Kapot
by demented amant
Summary: Scorpius has liked Rose for longer than he cares to admit, and only three people know. Unfortunaly for him she likes one of his good friends and has never considered him. But when something terrible happens, he's the only one there to put back the pieces.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER!**

**AN: Please don't kill me, because I love you all! I'm still working on Verboden, but this plot bunny was jumping around in my head. I could NOT write any more of Verboden unless I got this idea out of my head. Hence why I'm starting a new story. I promise, once I get all of my ideas out and writing I'll continue writing Verboden. I'm older now, and wiser. So hopefully my writing will be better. : ) Lots of love. **

**Chapter One**

Not a lot of people like the rain, but Rose did. When it stormed she was quick to change into a colorful pair of rain boots and go splashing in the muddy puddles. Maybe she was a little weird, but she didn't care. She loved when her long, fiery hair stuck to her face. The spicy scent of her perfume washed away from her skin, leaving her smelling like the grass, and the trees, and of course the rain. When the sky rumbled, like it hadn't eaten in days, Rose could hardly think of anything but the sound. She could empty her mind of all her troubles, and let them soak into the earth. They would resurface, once she went back inside, but she didn't think about it. She just reveled in her peace, for it never lasted very long.

This time, the storm was especially loud. Rose was curled up under a tree, looking out across the lake. The Giant Squid had surfaced, and was dancing around in the waves. He liked the rain, too. Rose dug the tips of her fingers into the sand, which was still warm despite the rain. Without putting much though into it, she laid down on her side, pressing her face again the sand. Her clothes were going to be filthy, but she could clean them later.

"I told you she'd be out here."

"You could have let her rot."

"Albus was looking for her, and you know him. He's so damn protective over her; he can't seem to relax when he doesn't know where she is."

Rose's eyes were closed; she must have fallen asleep. There was no more rain, no more cracks of thunder, and now the sun was beating down on her face. She could feel the stinging in her skin; she'd gotten sunburn. Rose's skin was so fair that it never tanned, it just burned.

"Hurry and wake her up, I have a lot better things to do than babysit little helpless Rosie."

"Honey, be nice."

Cracking an eye open, Rose could make out the faces of the two people above her. Ah, it was her _least_ favorite cousin duo; Lucy and Louis Weasley. The carrot top and the dumb blonde. Bonnie and Clyde. Beavis and Butthead. The whore and the homosexual. The bitch and the snob. You get the idea.

Lucy had never liked Rose, and she did not have a clue as to why. Rose felt it was because she wasn't as ugly as Lucy, and because everyone else in the family seemed to adore her. Rose's parents were always telling her that Lucy was jealous, but she didn't know what there was to be jealous of. Though Rose had a prettier face and thin body, Lucy had a little too much curves in the front and the back. Guys seemed to like it. Not the kind of boys Rose fancied, but still. For a long time Rose had wished boys would look at her like they looked at her cousin.

Rose liked her own hair better than her cousin's, though. Lucy's hair was orange and made her head look like a giant pumpkin, in Rose's opinion. It was bone straight, and cut short in an uneven bob. She looked like she was thirty. Rose's hair, however, was pure dark red. She liked it much better than the traditional orangey hair of her family. Hers fell to the middle of her back, and was curled and wavy. Lucy had called it unruly at one time, but Rose loved it.

Louis and Rose, on the other hand, had been very close when they were growing up. They'd lived the closest together of all the other cousins and had been exceptionally close. That ended when they went off to Hogwarts. Although he was never mean to her, the cold, criticizing air always seemed to surround him when Rose was around. He never said more than a couple polite words to her now and although she would not admit it, that made her feel like dung.

Rose was hoping that they'd go away, now that they knew where she was and could tell Albus. She would have gotten her wish, but Lucy kicked sand at her.

"You fat bitch, you got sand in my eye!" Rose spat.

Both Louis and Lucy's eyes grew wide; Rose rarely ever cussed.

"Who are _you_ calling a fat bitch, you spindly little tramp?"

Maybe she was so daft that she thought that would hurt Rose's feelings. "Me, a tramp? Ha! You're one to talk. You've got more maggots crawling between your legs than a decaying body." Rose was the farthest thing from a tramp; she'd never even seen a boy naked.

Rose started sitting up while her cousin shouted out various profanities, and Louis just stood back watching as if they were performing for him. She began dusting the sand off of her face and her clothes. Once it was as good as it was going to get, she shook any sand out of her hair and ran her hands through it a couple times.

Pushing down on her feet, Rose easily got up from the ground. She was shorter than her two cousins, so she had to look up a little to look at them. Lucy was fuming, and Louis seemed a bit too entertained.

"You could afford to be a bit nicer, Rose."

Rose gave Louis a look of utter disgust and brushed past him to find Albus. She'd never given them a reason not to like her. She was always sweet to them, or tried to be, but lately she was getting sick of just letting them walk all over her. She knew that the next time she was them, however, she'd be nice like always and brush off any remarks they tossed her way. Hopefully Albus would be with her, then.

"You look rather wet today, Weasley."

Perfect.

Rose glanced around before she met the pale blue eyes of her fellow seventh year, Scorpius Malfoy. He was everything she would never be; rich, popular, muscular, male, and attractive. It was a wonder he talked to her at all.

"That I do, Malfoy."

"Been sitting out in the rain again?" he asked, coming closer and eyeing her. She hated when he did that.

"Uh, yeah," after a moment Rose sighed. Being around him made her nervous. "I'm going to go inside and change… I'm sure I look dreadful."

Scorpius reached up and brushed some sand off of her arm. "You _do_ look rather disheveled." He commented, smiling when she gave him a dirty look. "I'll see you around, Weasley." He clapped her on the shoulder, and then strutted off in that way of his. She wished dearly that she could hate him, but he was usually rather polite to her.

Once he was gone, Rose hurried into the castle. She was relieved to finally be out of the sun, and thankful that she wasn't too far from the Ravenclaw Tower. She made it to her dormitory without being stopped again. She took a quick shower, the hot water waking her up more. Once she got out she wrapped herself up in a towel and went back in her room. It was still empty.

She sat in front of the mirror, brushing out her hair. After using a drying spell she braided it, holding it together at the bottom with a ribbon. Rose would have liked to stay in her room and do homework, since it was Saturday, but she knew she had better find Albus. After slipping on a short brown dress and spraying herself with perfume, Rose left.

Rose did not fancy going in the dungeons to find her cousin, but it was inevitable. Somehow he'd been sorted into Slytherin, while she was put into Ravenclaw. Why couldn't they both have been put in Gryffindor? Rose's life might be a much happier place… only Lucy was in Gryffindor. Maybe it was a good thing they weren't in the same house.

Albus was right where she'd expected him to be, traipsing around like he owned the place with his group of friends. One of which was Malfoy.

"Ah Weasley, you sure clean up well."

Rose gave him a phony smile, and was about to say something when Albus attacked her.

"Where have you _been_?" Albus was a bloke's bloke; he was always playing Quidditch, and talking about girls, and messing around with girls, but he was a family bloke first. Rose happened to be his favorite family member, and he treated her like she was his little sister, even though they were just months apart.

"I woke up this morning when I heard it raining and went outside."

"And how early was that?"

"Probably three or four in the morning."

"You need to go to the hospital wing, Rosie!"

"Al! I'm fine."

"You could get pneumonia!"

"I'm not going to."

"Hypothermia!"

"I seriously doubt that."

"Do you know how long those things take to heal? Even with magic? Muggles _die_ from that all the time! I don't want you catching anything that people die from!"

"Albus, mate. She looks fine to me." Scorpius had cut in, and was eyeing her _again. _Why did he have to do that?

"Thank you, Malfoy."

"Anytime."

"Oh shove it, mate. We all know you just want to get in her pants."

Scorpius' head shot around to look at Lorcan Scamander, and he turned into a blur as he pounced on top of the smaller boy. Rose watched them wrestle around on the ground like a couple of baboons and raised an eyebrow. "I don't have pants on."

The group gave a simultaneous sigh, and a few boys chuckled. Rose was way too naïve for her own good.

"Just ignore them, they're stupid." Al said, "What are you doing the rest of the day?"

"I, uh…nothing."

"Good. You can come to Hogsmeade with us."

"Oh no, I couldn't!"

"Why not?" Albus asked, looking a little hurt.

"I wouldn't want to keep you from pursuing any girls or anything, and I'm sure your friends wouldn't want me to come along…"

"Are you kidding?" Adam Jordan said, coming out from the group and putting an arm around her shoulders. "Rose, baby, about half of us have tried pursuing _you_ in the past couple of years. Myself included. Your cousin here just wouldn't allow it."

"That's right." Lorcan said, having finally surrendered to Scorpius after being held down with his arm bent painfully. He, too, put an arm around Rose. "You haven't gotten a clue how many of us would kill to ravish you just once." He kissed her gently on the cheek and she blushed furiously. "Myself included."

"The poor girl is never going to want to be around us again because of you two. You'll scare her away." At this voice, Rose's heart skipped a beat. Marc Flint.

"We're the only reason she'll want to come around again, Flint!" Lorcan said. Rose got along best with boys. The only girl friend that she had was her cousin Lily, and she was family. These boys weren't really her friends, but besides people she was related to, they were the closest things she had to it.

"Alright, alright, I think you two need to give her a bit of space." Albus said, pulling Rose away from Alex and Lorcan. Rose smiled, knowing Al got nervous when she was too close to boys. "We need to get going to Hogsmeade, anyway. I want to get a few hours in before nightfall."

Rose walked more or less by herself. Albus and Scorpius were at the front, talking about Quidditch or something. Lorcan, Alex, and the others were in the middle, fooling around. Rose fell at the back, not wanting to get in the way, trying to fall behind so she could think… and so she could stare at Marc. He was so far out of her league; it made her sick to think about it.

"Mind if I walk with you?"

Merlin. She'd been so busy thinking about him that she hadn't noticed him stop and wait for her. Rose could feel herself shaking, like she always did when he came around. "N-not at all."

Marc smiled at her, and her stomach did flips. "Don't look so scared, Rosie. I don't bite."

Rose tried to laugh, but found she was afraid it'd sound stupid. "Are you sure about that?" she asked.

"I do look like I would, don't I?"

Rose had to admit he did. He was scraggly, and rough looking. His hair was always messy and was a nice shade of dark brown. He could easily be a werewolf. She found his dangerous air to be intoxicating, alluring. Rose didn't usually have crushes on people, but Marc was the exception.

"Well if looks truly are a reflection of what's inside, then you must an angel. Perfect and sweet." Rose never knew that words could really make a girl swoon.

"You don't mean that."

"Do you wanna bet?" he asked.

"No. But you can try to prove it."

Just as Marc started to whisper into Rose's ear, Scorpius looked back. He stopped mid-step and started to storm towards them.

"Oh, no you don't." Albus said, grabbing his best mate's arm and pulling him along behind him.

"But _Albus_ don't you see him? It's quite obvious what's going on there and I-"

"Marc is probably the only person I would actually trust with her. If they want to whisper things to each other, let them. Rose would never forgive you if you tried to keep them apart."

"And _why_ do you say that?"

Albus paused for a moment, before lowering his voice. "Don't tell her I told you, but Rose fancies Marc. A lot."

Scorpius felt like he was going to throw up. "Just rip out my heart and stomp all over it, why don't you." He murmured. Albus, Lorcan, and Alex were the only people who knew about his little… thing for Rose. He didn't like her. He just didn't like when other people liked her. Or touched her, or talked to her.

"Aw, mate. I forgot."

"No you didn't." Scorpius tried not to look as gutted as he felt.

Alex and Lorcan wandered up to them and Alex clapped Scorpius on the back. "Alright mush!"

"Fuck off."

"What's the matter with him?" Lorcan asked Albus.

"He's in a nark."

"What for?"

"Look for yourself."

The two boys turned to see Marc, still chatting up Rose.

"Ah! Don't be so stroppy, mate," said Lorcan.

"I'm not."

"You wouldn't have had a chance with her anyway."

"Thanks for that, mate."

Under normal circumstances, Scorpius would have told them off for grinding on his nerves. Now, he was too forlorn to even think straight.

"You know what'll make you feel better?" Albus said, patting Scorpius on the back.

"Committing homicide? A crime of passion?"

"You're such a drama queen. What I was going to say, was that we could get shit-faced and find a couple nice girls to shag. It'll get your mind off Rosie, that's for sure."

"How can you hug her and willingly let her go?"

"Sweet Morgan le Fay of Avalon, can you think of nothing else?"

"Of course I can. I can think of lots of things."

"Like what?"

"Like how I'd like to have Marc's head on the end of a stake. And I won't be able to sleep tonight until I do."

"You have issues, my friend."

"That I do, Potty. That I do."

**Review. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**DISCLAIMER!**

**AN:** I apologize in advance. EDIT: I just realized that my little scene markers didn't show up. Oops.

Once they'd reached Hogsmeade, Albus had to drag Scorpius along with him to the Three Broomsticks. He complained, naturally. Scorpius was convinced that no good would come from leaving Marc and Rose alone together, but Albus wouldn't listen. After several Butterbeers and a few rounds of Firewhiskey, Scorpius was feeling more and more paranoid. And upset.

"I just don't get it," he said, resting his head in his hands. It was so heavy; filled with silly drunken thoughts. "What's so great about Marc Bint?"

"Well for one, he doesn't whine so much."

"I am not _whining_. Malfoys don't whine."

Albus snorted. He had heard many times from his family about how the Malfoys were notorious whiners. It came from their need to always get what they want.

"You know I'm better looking than him. And smarter, and more charming, and more... likable. So why does she have to like _him_?"

"Malfoy, you're a little drunk."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are."

Scorpius slammed his fist down on the table and slid out of the booth. "You take that back, Potter!"

"Or what? You'll throw up on me?"

Scorpius glared at Albus for a good minute or so, before reaching across the table and smacking him in the head. Somehow he was able to dodge retaliation and sprint to the other side of the room. It took Albus twenty minutes to coax him back to their booth. After that, Al wouldn't let him have another drink and ordered a large cup of coffee. He made Scorpius drink it.

"I hate this shit," he said, making a face after having taken too big a sip.

"It'll sober you up."

"It looks and tastes like watery diarrhea."

"That's disgusting."

"You're the one making me drink this."

It was working though. Thankfully, the bar had invested in specially brewed coffee that sobered people up in a hurry.

"Oh, my bloody head."

"Now who's fault is that?"

"Yours. You're the one who told me to get shit-faced."

"My plan didn't work out quite like I'd intended."

"I apologize that I've got a problem with infatuation."

Albus looked across the table at Scorpius for a minute, and thought about how weird it was that he wasn't pissed off about him liking his cousin. "You know, if you weren't my best friend I never would have allowed this."

"Allowed what?"

"For you to like my cousin. I'd probably forbid you from ever speak to her, just because you're a Malfoy."

"I appreciate that, mate."

"Oh you know what I mean."

Scorpius took another drink from his coffee and made a face.

"Why is it that you like her so much, anyway?" Albus asked.

"I don't like her."

Albus gave him a weird look. "Well if you _did _like her, why would you?"

"It's sounds like you're trying to trick me into telling you something, Al."

"Me? _No_, of course not."

Scorpius was trying to decide whether or not he should reveal his feelings when Alex, Lorcan, and a few other boys came in. The only people missing were Rose and Marc. He didn't like that. Not at all.

"Aw, well look at our little sweet boys!" Lorcan said, coming up and ruffling Scorpius's hair before sliding next to him in the booth.

"Sorry your date's being cut short, mates." said Alex as he sat next to Albus.

Scorpius frowned and tried to fix his hair while Albus told the two off for calling them "sweet". The rest of the boys were filling into the booth, or pulling up one of the rickety old chairs.

Misreading Scorpius's expression, Albus quickly asked where Marc and Rose were.

"They went off on their own as soon as we got here." Alex said, summoning a waitress over to the table. "Marc told me that he'd meet us here later."

"Where did they go?"

"Who knows." Lorcan said, as Alex was busy flirting with the blonde waitress and ordering drinks. "Probably just to walk around."

"No one just walks around." mumbled Scorpius. He felt like ever since he'd started to... well, he's just been in a dreadful mood lately. He hadn't been his usual self in a while. Actually, he was himself on "good days". He considered good days to be the days when Rose came over and talked to him, sat by him in class, laughed at his jokes, smiled at him, those kinds of things. What ruined his day was when he saw other boys trying to chat her up. Scorpius tried to tell himself that he shouldn't care, that he had no right to claim her.

An hour or two went by, as they talked and Scorpius watched the door. Every time the door opened, his eyes would glance over hopefully. He was let down every time. The whole table was in a deep discussion about Quidditch, but after a while he couldn't pay attention.

"Oi, let me out." he said all of the sudden, hitting Lorcan on the arm.

"What for, mate?"

"I'm going to go to Zonko's and pick up a few things before it gets too late."

The boys happily let Scorpius out, then. Zonko's Joke Shop was their favorite store after Spintwitches, a sporting goods shop.

He and Albus locked gazes, and the dark haired boy shook his head at him. _You're hopeless, _was what he was thinking. At least, that's what Scorpius got out of it.

Outside, the sun has begun it's descent from the sky. The horizon was filled with color; pink, orange, dark blue, purple. He could just picture Marc and Rose somewhere together, watching and waiting for the sunset. It almost made him sick, and since he wasn't usually such a jealous person it made him even sicker.

"I guess I better get looking." he thought to himself. If he found them, all locked in embrace and whatnot, he doubted he could stop himself from hexing the life out of Marc. And crying. He'd probably cry.

"We'll meet you back at Hogsmeade later."

Rose looked up at Marc as he spoke to the group of boys they were now walking away from. She didn't see Al or Malfoy. Who knows where they went. She could hardly think of anything but the fact that she was so close to Marc. It was like all of her day dreams coming true.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked, looking down at her and smiling.

"How about Honeydukes?" It was a wonder that she could put words together at all.

"Sounds good to me."

Rose hated that she didn't know what to say around him. With her guy friends, take Scorpius for instance, she could talk to him for hours about nothing at all. Not that she'd ever talked to him for that long besides one time. He always made her so nervous, the way his eyes seemed to just see into her soul, her heart.

"But I'll never feel this way about Malfoy," she told herself, "So it's different."

"I'm surprised you're cousin left us alone." Marc said after a minute.

Rose laughed a little, nervously. "I know, me too. He's usually so protective over me."

"He just wants to keep you away from the bad boys. Like Lorcan, and Alex, and Scorpius."

"Oh, they aren't that bad."

"You'd be surprised. They may seem alright at first, but once you start to trust them, they'll break your heart."

"You've seen them do that before?"

"Lots of times. The worst thing is that they brag about it. 'Hit it and quit it', that's what they say."

"That's terrible." Rose commented, furrowing her eyes together. Alex and Lorcan, well that made some sense. But Malfoy? He didn't seem like that at all...

Rose doesn't catch onto lying. It flies right over her head when something doesn't seem right.

"I would never do that," Marc eased his hand into hers, and she her heart jumped, "Especially not to you."

She could feel her face flooding with color. What could she say to that? "Oh, um, thanks."

They made it to Honeydukes then, and Rose immediately smiled. Candy was probably her favorite thing in the world. She walked around, picking out all of her favorite things and new things to try. They had been in the store for half an hour before she noticed Marc hadn't gotten anything.

"What's the matter?" she asked. Hopefully she hadn't done anything wrong.

"Nothing, love. I'm just not much of a candy eater, myself."

"Oh... did you want to leave?"

"No, no, take your time."

Despite his words, Rose hurried up and went in line. After the excitement had worn off a bit, she realized that they were still holding hands. She smiled up at him sheepishly.

"Next."

Rose jumped, coming out of her thoughts and going up the the cashier. She reluctantly let go of Marc's hand while she dug around for money to pay with.

"Have a nice day."

Grabbing the bag her sweets were in, Rose started moving away from the cashier. Just as she turned around to make sure Marc was behind her, she felt something run over her ass. "Oh!" she exclaimed, and turned red again.

"I'm so sorry, Rose." Marc said, reaching out for her hand again.

"Don't be," she said silently.

They left, and began walking around the village. Still a little flustered, Rose was more or less quiet. She listened to Marc talk about his day, and his opinions about things. She didn't agree with him on a lot, but that wasn't important. Was it? She also noticed that he kept speaking ill of his friends, especially Scorpius. It was just beginning to get dark when they stopped in front of Zonko's. People were walking in and out of shops; it was really busy for it to be so late.

"Rose?"

"Yes?"

"I need to talk to you about something, but I'd like it to be in private."

Rose's stomach flipped. "I, uh, alright."

She let him pull her through the alley and behind Zonko's. There was a line of trees, and they slipped into the small patch of woods.

"What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked, leaning back against a tree. Trees were another thing Rose liked. They were so old, so wise. She wished they could speak, so they could tell people of all they'd witnessed.

Marc started walking towards her and put a hand next to her on the tree. Without any warning, her came close and kissed her. It was nothing like she'd imagined it would be, and she had definitely thought about it a lot. Rose had imagined it to be really soft, and gentle. He's put his fingers in her hair and whisper things to her when he pulled away. This was nothing like that.

His hand that wasn't against the tree was on her leg, and it slowly made its way up her leg. His mouth was rough against hers, and when he pulled away it was just so that he could bit her neck. It didn't make her feel nice, that's for sure.

"M-marc. Stop it."

Her bag of candy had fallen; Sugar Quills, Chocoballs, and Ice Mice hit the ground.

"Shut up."

Uh oh.

"Marc, get off of me." Rose said, more firmly this time. His hand had found her underwear and was pulling them down over her thighs. She fought to stop him, and when he didn't, she hit him.

He shook his head slowly, backing up and pulling his wand from his pocket. "It didn't have to be this way, Rose."

Just as she was about to run, he pushed her against the tree, knocking the breath out of her. "Accio rope." His hands were hard on her wrists as he waited for his rope. When it came, Rose frantically tried to get out of his grasp.

"Stop moving, damn it."

When she wouldn't stop, he hit her across the face. She was so busy crying that he could easily tie her hands together. He pulled his tie from around his neck and tied it around her head and stuck it in her mouth so she couldn't yell.

"Try to yell." he commanded, amused. Rose did, and she found it was muffled so that she could barely hear it herself. It made her cry more.

After pulling off her underwear, he grabbed her by the hair and made her turn around. "Bend over." He had her hair, or else she would have ran. Tears streamed down her face as she did what he told her to, and she was wondering why no one had come looking for her yet. As he got himself ready, Rose tried as hard as she could to get the tie from around her mouth. With the help of her shoulder, she was able to get it a little loose. That's how Scorpius heard her scream when Marc entered her. Rose had been a virgin, but not anymore.

Scorpius heard the scream, but he wasn't sure where he'd heard it come from. He didn't know who it was, but something in him hurt when he heard it. So he started looking in that direction. Fifteen minutes later, he reached Zonko's. He almost walked right by it, but then he saw movement from the alley. He turned around, drawing his wand, and walked through it. It was just about dark, now, but Scorpius could make out the figure in the alley. "Where's Rose?"

Marc emerged from the darkness to come closer. "She's making herself look suitable."

Scorpius didn't like the smugness in his voice. "What did you do to her?" he asked, coming closer to Marc. Flint was strong, but Scorpius was stronger, and they both knew it.

"Nothing."

Scorpius grabbed him by the shoulder and slammed him against the side of the building. He held his wand against Marc's throat. "What the _fuck _did you do to her?"

"Nothing she didn't want."

Scorpius's wand fell to his side and Marc slipped from between him and the wall. "That's mine now, Malfoy. I suggest you get over it."

**Review!  
AN: **I really hope I don't loose any of my readers! Things will get better, I promise.


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER!**

**Thank you to everyone who reviews!**

**A True Dreamer: **I don't really like getting into detail with that kind of thing. I tried to get it across how painful it was for her without getting too deep into it. Thank you for continuing to read. :)

**alikmionejean: **THANK YOU FOR NOT FLAMING ME! :) You have not idea how much I appreciate that. And Marc is Marcus Flint's son, so yes, that's where it came from. His whole name is Marcus too, but everyone just calls him Marc.

**Sugarplumjellygum: **Thank you! I just naturally write things that are a bit funny, so I'm _trying _to tone it down with the more serious parts.

**Sorry it took so long.**

**Chapter Three**

It hadn't lasted very long, or rather, Marc hadn't lasted. Rose didn't know much about those things, but she'd heard it was supposed to take a while. Unlike her roommates, who were aggravated when it went by quickly, Rose was relieved.

Marc had untied her hands and mouth, telling her that if she told anyone he would make her "rue that day she was born". He'd told her that no one would believe her, anyway. He "let" her be his girlfriend, so she didn't look like such a whore. Wasn't he just the poster child of generosity?

He left her on the ground to cry, and she was glad. Rose would much rather be alone while she tried to pull herself together. Besides, the sooner she left, the sooner she'd have to face Marc again.

"Weasley?"

She frantically wiped the tears from her face and tried to clean herself up. Her wrists were bleeding from the rope that had rubbed against her skin. Her shoulder was scraped from being shoved repeatedly against the rough bark.

She tried to stand up but found she wasn't ready to yet.

"Weasley, are you in here?" The voice was closer now and it wasn't long before Scorpius appeared a few feet away.

She tried not to look at him as he came by her and knelt down. It wasn't hard to read the emotions going though his mind on his face; relief, confusion, anger.

"Rose," he said softly, "What did he do to you?"

She started to cry again, but tried to hide it. "You called me Rose."

"I did."

"Why?"

"Why not? We're friends, aren't we?"

"I guess," She thought that over for a minute... Maybe they _were_ friends. What else could you call it? They were too familiar to be considered acquaintances. "I'm still going to call you Malfoy."

"I don't really think that's fair." he said, looking down by his feet where he found all the candy.

"Why not?"

"You never answered my question."

"Answer mine first."

"Tell me what happened, Rose!"

"I don't think it's any of your business!"

"I think it is!"

"Why do you care?"

"I care because..." he trailed off, still too afraid to tell her the truth. It seemed to him that he would never be able to tell her how he really felt. Ever.

"Exactly," she laughed humorlessly.

Slowly everything started to come together... or maybe it all fell apart. From her wet eyes to the blood on her wrists and candy scattered on the ground, it all made something click in his head.

"He shagged you." That's what Marc had implied, but Scorpius had been hoping that he was lying.

Rose bought a shaky hand up to brush the hair from her face. Scorpius made to help her, but she flinched and pressed herself against the tree. "Please don't touch me," she begged, "Please."

"You didn't want him to, did you?" Scorpius had to ignore the aching in his heart bought on from her pleading.

Rose looked away from him, deeper into the woods. "What is 'hit it and quit it'?" She'd be surprised if he didn't yell at her for avoiding the question.

Scorpius gave her a funny look. "Did you hear about that from Al? That's something Marc and some of the other guys do. Al did it to girls for a while but eventually I convinced him that it wasn't a good idea..."

That's about when Rose realized that she was an idiot. "Oh my god." she sobbed, covering her face with her hands. How could she believe that Scorpius would do something like that in the first place?

She didn't deserve to be in Ravenclaw.

He wanted to comfort her, but he couldn't; he didn't want her to shrink away from him again. "Rose, you need to answer me."

She shook her head. "He's my boyfriend now, Malfoy."

_I can't admit it because he's got a tight hold __on me, _is what he heard. "_What_?"

"Why do you _care_?"

"Why won't you tell me the truth?"

Rose felt she was good at putting the attention on something other than herself. "What did Lorcan mean by that? You wanting to get in my pants."

"Stop doing that."

"Malfoy."

He sighed. At least she was talking to him. She could just clam up and shut him out if she really wanted to. "It's nothing. And that isn't true."

"Is that why you're so upset about this?"

"I am not _upset_, Rose." Upset was a bit of an understatement.

For some reason it hurt her when he said that. She moved her hands from her face and looked at him. He was so close to her. Too close. After what happened, she couldn't stand to be touched, or to be so close to someone. She thought about Marc, and how he would make her kiss him and hold his hand in public. She physically couldn't stand it.

"I need to get back to Hogwarts." she told him, while slowly rising to her feet.

"Don't go by yourself." Scorpius picked up the bag of candy, what hadn't fallen out, and stood up.

"I don't want to bother Marc. I'll be fine." What was the worst that could happen? She'd already been raped. All she wanted to do was go to her dorm, take a shower, and cry herself to sleep.

"I wasn't talking about him."

"Al is probably having fun, I don't want to bother him either."

"I wasn't talking about Albus."

Rose stared at him for a moment, when their eyes met she looked away. "Do you want to go with me?"

"Well, yeah."

"I thought you didn't care about me."

"I never said that. I said I'm not upset, and that's because I'm pissed off. Now if you keep asking me questions I'm going to have to levitate you there. I would much rather carry you but..."

It was amazing that he could make her smile even a little, under the circumstances. "I don't think Marc would like that."

"Marc can suck my-"

"Malfoy."

"Willy. I was going to say willy."

Rose sighed and started to walk away from him. "I don't want you to go with me."

"And why not?" he asked.

"Because I would like to be alone."

"Ah, I see. Now that your dream bloke's shagged you, you're too good to hang out with me. Is that it? You don't need to waste your time with a smarmy git like myself."

"Now why would you say that?"

"Because that's how I feel." He stuck out his arm, handing her the candy. She stared at it for a long moment before taking it from him.

"Malfoy," she said softly, "you act like we were the best of friends."

He shouldn't be getting so worked up. He shouldn't be so transparent.

"If you think I'm mad, wait until Albus finds out."

Rose knew she shouldn't be pushing him away. She could use friends, and usually he was a great one. "He won't find out."

"Oh? You don't think your little boyfriend is telling all our friends about it right this second?"

"Shut up, Malfoy."

"Fine." He said, throwing up his hands. "Fine. I'm done."

Scorpius turned around and headed out of the woods. Rose stood where she was as he left, not moving. Tears slowly fell from her eyes, and when she heard him punching something she cried harder. Now that he was gone, she just wanted him to come back. She hadn't noticed while he was there, but she felt safer with him around. Now she felt vulnerable, and lost. It took her a while before she could pull herself together and head back to Hogwarts.

There were two options for Scorpius. He could get a head start back to school and risk running into Rose, or he could go back to the Three Broomsticks with his new arch rival. Neither appealed to him more than the other, so when he found himself around the corner from the pub he decided to just suck it up and go in.

The boys were just where he'd left them, only they were all a little more… intoxicated.

"Malfoy!" Albus exclaimed, climbing over a couple people to get out of the booth. He ran over and wrapped his arms around Scorpius' head. "We missed you!"

"I'm sure you did." He said, not bothering to free his head. Eventually Al let go and dragged him over to the booth.

"Go on, have a seat!" Scorpius more or less collapsed into the booth.

"Where's Rose?"

Marc was seated across from him, ironically enough. Scorpius could either ignore him or tell him off. "What, you can't keep track of your women now, Flint?" He'd never been the silent, brooding type.

He had the audacity to grin. "Glad to see you're acknowledging that she's mine."

"I'm not _acknowledging_ anything."

"I'm guessing you two had a nice little chat."

"Fuck you."

"Rose already has."

Once the words sunk into his head Scorpius slowly rose to his feet and hit Marc in the face.

The next few minutes were chaos. Al had grabbed Scorpius and was trying to pull him away; Lorcan and Alex were keeping Marc from retaliating.

"He's psycho! Did you just see that?"

"If you touch her again I will _kill _you."

"Sorry to tell you mate, but she's my girlfriend. I can touch her however I want, whenever I want."

"Albus, you let go of me right now."

"No can do, buddy."

"Albus, fucking let go!"

Scorpius tried shaking him off and when that didn't work, he grabbed an empty mug off of the table and threw it at Marc's crotch. Marc had been covering his head, expecting to be hit there again.

"OUCH, FUCK YOU!"

Albus was laughing too hard to hold onto him, now. Hell, everyone was laughing. Marc was curled up on the ground, holding himself with tears streaming from his eyes. "You fucking deserve- AH!"

Marc had picked up the mug and chucked it at Scorpius' crotch. Now they were both on the ground. "YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT!"

Flint laughed, and then he started throwing up.

"That's it." A bartender said, coming over to them. 'You boys have been creating havoc all night. You need to leave."

"Can't we have another round?"

"NOW!"

For all Scorpius knew, Marc got left there. Al had helped him up, and was holding him up as they walked.

"They had sex, Al."

"Ah, yes. I heard."

"Aren't you the least bit upset."

"I'm sure I will be when I wake up. Remind me in the morning?"

"I don't want to have to think about it."

"Ah, well. I'll have someone else tell me."

"I'm sure Marc will be talking about it until he dies."

"Piece of shit.'

Al laughed, and Scorpius wished that he was drunk, that he could wake up and pretend that the whole night had just been a bad dream… or that he wouldn't remember it at all. "Since I won't remember in the morning, can you tell me something?"

"Sure."

"Do you like Rose?"

"I don't know. I guess I do."

"How much?"

Scorpius sighed, not sure how to explain how he felt. "Let me put it this way… she's like whiskey to me. It hurts to like her, but it feels so good at the same time. She brings me so high up, but once I'm all alone I feel like shit. I realize that I'll never have enough of her to satisfy my thirst. I don't want her to be my whiskey. I want her to be my air, or my sun. Or my world."

Al snorted, not able to realize that Scorpius was pretty much spilling his heart to him. It would never happen again, and he was drunk. "Well that's just too cute! Want me to put it on a card for you?"

"Shove off."

"No, no! I'm serious! You're bringing me to tears! I can feel my heart breaking! Oh, god! Oh, Rose! Wherefore art thou Rose!"

"You're a crazy bastard, you know that?"

"Actually, I know who my father is. But that's very nice of you to say."


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER!**

**Chapter Four**

When she went to sleep that night, Rose had prayed to anything out there that she wouldn't wake up the next morning. She was gravely thwarted when her eyes opened and she was faced with the curtains around her bed. It was sickening that she'd fooled herself into believing that someone would answer her prayer.

Hours went by before she could haul herself out of bed, and even then she only got up because Albus was threatening to hop on his broom and soar through her window. She wasn't at all hungry and didn't see the need to shower and dress. She was in no humor to talk to anyone or to elucidate why she looked so sad. And there were certain people that she was bound to see, and she was dreading it.

Rose needed to pretend that nothing was the matter. It would be hard, she knew it, but she had to. She was dating an awfully well-liked boy, one she'd fancied for a while. It would be suspicious, especially to Al, if she appeared troubled. She could only pray that Malfoy hadn't told anyone that he had found her sitting on the ground, face all wet. Merlin, thinking about him just worsened her mood. He was so arrogant and convinced that everyone wanted to be his best friend. And the pain she'd seen in his eyes but had tried so hard to disregard… it all just made her feel shitty.

Deep down she knew that she shouldn't have let him leave. She should have followed him, or let him walk her back to the castle. Who knows, it might have been nice. It could have been comforting to not be alone. By the time she had reached her dorm, Rose was wholly terrified. Every noise had made her jump; each movement had nearly bought her to tears of fear. It could have been Marc, waiting for her. Waiting to attack.

Slowly, walking from dresser to the bathroom and back, Rose got ready. After getting out of the shower, she pulled on a band t-shirt and a pair jeans. She would rather rip out her eyes than show too much skin. If her legs were visible, or her shoulders, she wouldn't be able to handle it; she would have died from being so uncomfortable.

As soon as she was in the Common room, she could see Albus leaning in the doorway out to the corridor. Her eyes went to the floor as she walked over to him; she knew that they were going to talk about things she didn't want to talk about.

"Morning, Al."

As soon as she was close enough, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into the hallway and around a corner. Once they were out of hearing range, he looked down at her. "Rosie, what's this I hear about you and Marc?"

Ah, bluntness. That was the Weasley in him. "It's nothing."

"Rose…" he paused, trying to think of the words, "I don't think I would've cared so much if he hadn't gone around bragging about it to everyone. And if it hadn't been in the bloody woods, for Merlin's sake."

"Don't be mad at me, Al." she'd already lost one friend. She couldn't bear to lose another.

"I'm not mad, Rosie, I'm just…" he didn't remember much from the previous night, but he did remember the fight between Scorpius and Marc. He remembered the pain in his best friend's eyes, and snippets of the conversation they'd had about Rose. Even if he was her cousin, it was his obligation as Scorpius' best friend to be on his side in everything. At least, that's how he felt. "He and Scorpius got in a fight."

"_What?_ Is he alright?" she asked, her eyes growing wide.

"I'm sure he will be fine. Scorpius got him pretty good in the face once, and then he threw a mug at his balls."

Rose's stomach dropped. She had realized when she was still waiting for Al to answer her question that she hadn't been wondering about Marc at all. "Well, um, what were they fighting about?"

Albus looked at her for a moment, and then down the hallway.

Oh.

"Come get lunch." He said, pinching her arm. "You're too skinny, boys like girls with curves."

She made a face at him, "I'm not hungry."

"Come on Rose, pulling you everywhere is going to get old really soon."

Sighing, she started to walk towards the Great Hall with him. Albus, always a talker, went on about what happened the previous night, about how drunk he'd gotten. Rose wasn't really listening, but she nodded, smiled, and laughed when she was supposed to. She felt she was doing a good job of pretending.

Once in the Great Hall, she made for her table, but Albus stopped her. "Where are you going?"

"To eat."

He gave her a funny look. "Why at the Ravenclaw table?

"That _is_ my house."

"You haven't sat at your own table all year."

"Yeah, well I figured I should sit there today."

"Rosie, sit with me. Please? I promised Lorcan and Alex I'd bring you."

Rose sighed. She was a push over. A big, fat pushover. No wonder Marc had gotten to her so easily. Albus sat down once they were at the Slytherin table, and there was space on both sides of him. One was by Marc. The other was by Malfoy. She about ran out of the room when she realized her predicament. Bile rose in her throat, and she had to swallow it back down. Immediately she began shaking, not knowing what to do. She become conscious that she was calling unwanted attention to herself, and reluctantly sat down next to Marc. That was less suspicious; she should want to sit beside her boyfriend.

She glanced at Scorpius once she was seated and saw him glaring intently at his plate. It was bare and unused. "Hey baby." Rose saw Scorpius put his head in his hands, his fingers covering his ears, when Marc spoke.

"Hi." She said quietly, trying to calm herself. He hands were shaking so violently that she wouldn't be able to pick up a fork. It would be best to keep them in her lap.

Marc put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her hard on the cheek. She looked down at her hands, afraid to look at him, afraid to look at Scorpius for fear of what she'd see.

"Be wary, lest your eyes betray your secret." Albus had whispered to his best friend. Rose hadn't heard him.

"My eyes betray nothing." Scorpius murmured, still looking down. He poked at the table with his fork. If he looked at Al, then he'd see past him to Rose. And if he saw Rose, he'd see her with Flint. He wanted to kill him; wanted to see his crushed skull beneath his feet. Jealousy made him violent, terrifyingly so. "And I have no secret."

Scorpius gave in and looked over to Rose. She and Flint were right on top of each other. He might have been able to deal with it, but just as he was about to turn away, Flint grabbed her face and kissed her. He got out of his seat, throwing the fork down on his plate noisily. "Fuck this." He hissed, telling Albus he'd see him later and storming off. A few of the other boys got up to go with him but he didn't slow down for them.

Rose jumped at the noise and turned to watch him go. Marc scowled and grabbed her arm a little too roughly. "Let go, Marc." She whispered, "You're hurting me."

He put his face near her ear, so it looked like he was whispering sweet things to her. "If you ever look at him like that again, you'll regret it."

"Look at him like what?"

Marc tightened his grip on her arm. "_Don't play stupid._ You aren't to look at him at all."

"Well eventually it might happen by accident."

"Did you hear me?"

"Yes."

He let go of her arm. "Good."

As he started eating again, she looked down at marks on her arm. It would bruise for sure. What would she tell Albus if he noticed? It was hard to think of an excuse for hand bruises. You didn't get five purple ovals from bumping into something.

Was this what it was like to be some rich guy's wife? You had to keep a smile on even if you were miserable and do what he told you to. He could ruin you if you didn't. She felt like there was no way out, the only comfort she had was that he might break it off. If he didn't… well she'd just have to. If she could find someone else, strong and loving, she'd be safe. That's all she wanted; to feel safe again.

"Al?"

"Hmm?" She saw that he had a mouth full of food and smiled a little.

"I'm going to go to the library for a while."

"Oke. Woff you."

"Love you too."

Then she turned to Marc. "Why are you going there?" he asked.

"I was going to study the properties of wolfsbane and wormwood for an exam on Monday."

"Alright," he leaned over and kissed her. It almost made her sick. "See you in a bit."

"Right." She murmured, quickly getting up and walking out of the room before he changed his mind. Rose couldn't relax until she was in the library. The whole way there, she'd been worrying that Marc would pop out of a room and drag her in with him. She nearly cried with relief when she was surrounded by the books.

She considered just sitting in a corner somewhere so that no one could find her, but decided to get a few books on wolfsbane and wormwood. That way, if someone found her, she'd have an excuse as to why she was there.

After finding the books, Rose headed to the back, where her favorite table was. Not a lot of people knew about it; it was well hidden. As she turned the corner, her stomach flipped. "Damn it." She swore, backing up, hoping he hadn't seen her. She forgot that they used to study together back there sometimes with Al.

"Weasley, you never used to be so afraid of me."

She stopped, and felt herself shaking again. So much for relaxing. "I am _not_ afraid of you, Malfoy. I just don't want to be around you. That's all."

"Ah, yes. Like that makes it any better."

There it was again, that look in his eyes. It was getting harder and harder to ignore.

"Come Weasley, sit."

"I am not a dog."

"Why are you so difficult? You act like I did something to you."

_You did,_ she wanted to say. _You saw me cry._

Slowly she walked over to the table and sat across from him. "Marc… he forbids me from even looking at you."

"Then why are you? You do everything else that he tells you."

"That isn't fair, Malfoy."

"And why not?"

"Well it isn't like you're all that hard on the eyes. If he told me I couldn't look at Tolly Bulstrode, that'd be easy."

"You know what I mean."

"Well I can't tell you."

He leaned over the table so that his face was close to hers. "Why not?"

She stuck out her hand and pushed him away from her. "Trust me," she said, her eyes watering, "I just can't."

"It's not like I'm going to tell him…" he paused, and stared at her arm.

"What?" she asked, quickly pulling her arm close to her.

"What the hell is that?"

He reached out and put his palm up to her. It seemed like forever, but eventually she put her arm on the table. His fingers ran over the bruises gently. Scorpius was so tender to her that it almost made her cry. "I'll kill him."

She looked up at his face and saw he meant it. "Don't. It'll just make him madder if you try."

Scorpius swallowed hard, trying not to yell. He lifted her hand and pressed his lips to her palm. For a moment, one sweet moment, Rose let him. She didn't yell at him or push him away, she just let him. He started to get out of his seat. "I'm going to find him."

"No, no please don't!"

"Rose! You can't just let him do whatever he wants to you-"

"He-he didn't do anything. It was an accident."

"An _accident_?"

"Yes."

He looked at her, and she hoped he would change his mind. He didn't. "Malfoy, stop!"

Scorpius was walking out of their little corner, his wand held firmly in his hand. She had to jog to keep up with him. "Stop meddling in things you don't understand!"

He stopped walking and turned around, causing her to run into him. "Oomf."

"Maybe you should explain it to me then? Because you're right; I _don't_ understand. All I know is that you've been in a state since last night, since you were alone with Marc. I know that you're crying, and you've got fucking bruises on your arm. What am I supposed to think, Rose? You were never like this before. I've never seen you cry, or even upset."

"It's that time of the month."

"Don't give me that bollucks."

Damn. That usually worked for Al and her dad. If they asked her what was wrong she could just play the period card. "Please," she begged. Rose could imagine how angry Marc would be with her if Scorpius confronted him. She didn't want to get hit.

Scorpius could see the desperation in her eyes and it made his heart break. "Fine." He said softly. "But can you tell me something?"

Rose was hesitant, but ended up telling him that she would.

"Why are you even going out with him if he doesn't make you happy?"

"I never said he doesn't make me happy."

"Does he?"

Rose looked at the floor, wondering why he cared so much. She didn't like talking about this all in the open, so she went back to the corner. She wasn't sure if he'd follow, but he did.

"You could do much better." He said when she didn't answer.

She laughed at that. "Ha, like who? No one's interested in me, Malfoy. I don't have a big arse or big boobs. I'm not really witty and clever; all of my jokes are duds. I'm nothing special. I couldn't do any better, Marc's already so far out of my league. The only other guys that would even consider me are too ugly, too porky, too stupid, too boring, or too mean."

Now _that_ upset him. "That's not true. None of it. Not unless you consider me ugly, porky, stupid, boring and mean. Mean, maybe. But that's only when I'm pissed off."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Rose was trying to figure out what he could mean… and if what she thought he meant was the truth.

Scorpius sighed and rubbed his eyes. This was all too much for one weekend. When he woke up this morning, he'd planned on hiding out in the library until everyone had fallen asleep. He wasn't going to talk to anyone, and if he saw Rose or Marc, he would ignore them. His plans never worked out right. He motioned to touch her, but his hand fell back to his side. "Lorcan, and Alex. The rest of the guys. You know they've all liked you at some time."

"They were probably just joking."

"Whatever you say." He said, shrugging. Thankfully, he'd chickened out. If he admitted to her that he liked her, he would have hated himself for it later. "So, uh, did you need help studying? Wolfsbane and wormwood, right?" he asked, looking at the books on the table.

The sudden change of subjects startled her, "Oh, that's alright. I just need to review a bit…"

Even better; he wouldn't have to stay any longer. If he did, he risked telling her something he'd regret. It was so hard to hold his tongue around her. "Okay." He said, backing out into the main aisle. "See you."

"Malfoy?" she called, just as he turned the corner. He considered pretending he hadn't heard her.

"Yeah?"

"Are we on good terms now?"

"Sure."

"Okay, well… could you be sure not to talk to me in front of Marc? Like I told you before, he doesn't want me to be your friend at all."

He had been _so_ close to getting out unscathed. Scorpius' blood boiled at the thought of Marc keeping Rose from him, and he snapped. Again. "Fine. Better yet, I won't talk to you at all. How does that sound?"

"You know I didn't mean it like that. I want to be your friend, I really do-"

"Oh do you? Rose you don't want _anything._ You only want what he tells you to want, you feel what he tells you to feel. You're his bloody marionette. He controls you, and you've only been dating him for a day. How is it going to be in a month or two? Even your thoughts won't be your own; he'll tell you what to think and say."

"Malfoy, that's ridiculous."

"Is it? Because it sounds about right to me."

How was it that she managed to make him so mad twice in a row? She'd never seen him mad before last night, and she already knew that she hated it. His eyes were full of hatred and hurt, his fists were balled up and he breathed deeply like he was trying not to scream.

She didn't say anything, just stared at her hands. Tear spilled from her eyes, and she wasn't sure why. Was it because he was yelling, or because she'd been the one to make him yell? She just wanted him to be happy, to smile at her and tell her jokes again. That was how it used to be. All of this anger and crying… it was too much emotion for their relationship. They'd never talked about anything more that small talk. It was weird and she wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

Rose picked up a book and chucked it at his head. "You overreact to _everything_."

"_I do not._"

"You do! You're like a little girl."

Scorpius was still in awe that she'd thrown something at him. He needed to get out of there before she decided she never wanted to talk to him again. "I'm surprised you haven't run off to Marc yet."

"Bugger off, you don't know anything."

"Go on, puppet. You won't be able to last much longer without someone pulling the strings."

She threw several more books at him with all her strength. When there were no more on the table, she went over to him and started punching him. "Go to _hell._"

"I'm already there, Rosie." He said as she gave up and stormed out of the library. "I'm already there."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"I fucking hate him."

Rose and Lily were sitting in the Room of Requirement in front of a fire. It was where they went when they needed a sleepover for just the two of them. Lily was brushing Rose's hair to relax her but it wasn't working too well. "Shh, don't say things that aren't true. You don't hate him."

"It's the truth. I can't stand him; I wish he would stop being such an arrogant arsehole all the time. _You're his puppet. Blah blah blah, you can't last long without someone pulling the strings._" Lily giggled at Rose's impersonation of Scorpius.

"He was just hurt, Rose."

"Why the hell would _he _be hurt?"

"Well for one, you were hitting him."

Rose glared at the fire, since she couldn't turn to glare at Lily. "I only hit him because he was being an arse. What I don't get is why he even cares."

"Probably because he cares about you."

"He does not."

"You know Rose; it's very unusual for you to be ranting on about some boy when you have a boyfriend."

"I only saw Marc for twenty minutes and we were in lunch. There really isn't that much to talk about."

"You haven't told me how you two started dating."

Rose thought about how he'd tied her arms and slammed himself repeatedly inside of her. Her hands started to shake, she laced them together to hide it. "He just asked me when we were walking around."

"I'd thought you would be more excited."

"Why's that?"

"Well," Lily started, "for one, you've liked him for ages. And you used to talk about him for hours. About how perfect he is and how you'd never have a chance. I thought you'd be ecstatic."

"Well you know how those things go. Once you get something that you've wanted for a long time, it's not as good."

"If it was meant to be then it wouldn't be like that."

Rose closed her eyes and breathed deeply, hoping it would ease the shaking. "Maybe it isn't meant to be then."

"Give it some time though, Rose. You've only just started going out with him."

Rose wanted more than anything to tell Lily that one day was enough to know that she didn't want to be with Marc; she had to be. Rose would much rather be with someone who was nice to her, but there was no one. Even if there was, Marc wouldn't allow her to break up with him.

"She did_ what_?" Albus and Scorpius were sitting in the Common Room, talking in hushed voices.

"She threw books at me, and then she started pounding on me with her fists. It didn't hurt physically so much as emotionally."

Albus was quiet for a few seconds, and then he burst out in laughter. "You know, I don't like this new you. You're too bloody moody. Like a little bitch."

"That's what Rose said. Only in a nicer way."

"She thinks that if she cusses at someone that they'll never want to talk to her again. She's really paranoid about that, losing friends. You know, since she doesn't make them so easily."

"She didn't seem to mind losing me as a friend."

"Oh shut up, you." Al said, popping a chocolate in his mouth. "She'll forgive you."

"I'm not sure if I want her to. It'd be easier to wallow in self pity if she didn't want to talk to me ever again."

"You're really starting to get on my nerves with this shit."

"I'm sorry, mate."

"It's okay. Just stop it."

Scorpius sighed, not sure if he should tell Albus about the bruises or not. "To tell you the truth, I really think it would be best not to talk to her anymore. Maybe I'd be happier if I forgot about her."

"Don't ignore her, mate."

"I'll think about it."

Albus shook his head, "I am so done with you."

"Starting in ten seconds I'll never think about her again."

"Oh, I'm sure."

"Ten."

"Why are we even friends?"

"Nine."

"You give up too easily, mate."

"Eight."

"If you really like her, you should fight for her."

"Seven."

"I would help you. But you couldn't tell anyone because my whole family would kill m if they found out I helped a Malfoy get with my cousin."

"Six."

"They wouldn't like you, maybe not at first. My dad might be a little nicer and so would her mum. Her dad and my mum would have a bloody fit. Her dad would be the worst, since he hated your dad in school. I mean, cursed the day he was born."

"Five." He said a little louder this time, closing his eyes.

"Isn't that weird, though? That we're best mates and my family hates yours."

"Four."

"They don't care that I'm friends with you, though. Cause it's just a friendly thing. My mum was all proud of me, so was my Aunt Hermione. They were glad I could, 'Cross the boundaries of friendship like they didn't exist,' whatever the hell that means."

"Three."

"You get on my nerves sometimes, you know that?"

"Two."

"If Rose asks me why you don't talk to her, can I tell her this is why?"

Scorpius glanced at him and said, "_No._"

"Fine, I'll tell her I don't know. But if she finds out she'll be so mad at me! You better make her not mad at me, that is, if you stop being such a little tart."

"One."

Albus squinted at Scorpius and smacked one of his cheeks. "You still look like a miserable old mole to me."

"That's because I'm bored."

"Go to sleep."

"No, I'm too antsy."

"Go snog someone."

"I've got it!" he said, shaking Al's shoulder. "You know how Filch steals stuff that he deems 'unacceptable' and puts them in his office?"

"Yeah, and?"

"And, I'm sure he'll have some pretty good stuff in there. If you get my drift."

Albus hopped to his feet. "Come on then! I'll grab the cloak!"

Once Albus was back in the Common Room, cloak wrapped around him and bag on his shoulder, he tapped Scorpius on the shoulder. He might have jumped if he wasn't expecting it. Scorpius opened the portrait door and let Albus out before he followed him. They checked to make sure no one was in the halls before Albus pulled the cloak off.

"I call front."

"_No._ No, that is not fair, I had back last time."

"It's my bloody cloak!"

"It was my idea!"

"Touché."

"I always feel like a bitch when I'm in the back."

"Well actually, that's the one with the most control."

"…Ew Al. I'm not sure I want you behind me anymore."

Al punched him and Scorpius danced around trying to brush the 'gay boy' off of him.

"Screw it. Since I'm the straightest one out of us two, I'll go in the back." Scorpius said.

Albus made to protest that he was the straightest one, but footsteps could be heard behind them. "_Hurry up_."

They put the cloak over them, and had to hunch over to keep their feet from being seen. When they were younger, they could fit themselves, along with one or two other people. Now it could only comfortably fit one of them. Except if it was Rose. Rose could fit under it with someone else.

Scorpius quickly caught himself, remembering that he shouldn't be thinking about her at all. He felt a pang in his heart as he pushed her out of his mind.

They stood against the wall as they waited for the person to pass. It was just a prefect, no older that fifteen. They could have bribed them if they'd been seen. Just as the boy was passing them, Scorpius said, "Boo!" And the boy took off running. Al and Scorpius tried their best to stifle their laughter, but it was hard. Scorpius hadn't laughed, really laughed, in days.

After it was quiet again, they headed to the stairs. They had to climb four stories, and thankfully they didn't run into anyone. They needed to be careful, because the Headmistress knew who was in possession of the invisibility cloak. She also knew who frequently used it with him.

Once they were in front of Filch's office, they checked under the door. The light was on, which meant he was in. "Maybe we should come back tomorrow," Albus said, starting to walk back the direction they'd come.

Scorpius put his hand on Al's shoulder to stop him. "No, no. I've got this. _Accio bludger._"

"Shit!" Al said, looking around. "You're going to get our heads taken off!"

Scorpius shook his head and smiled. "It'll distract Filch. And once we're far enough away, we can call off the bludger. Or just let it roam free. It's up to you."

"Oh, we can just leave it."

Scorpius laughed, and told Al that they should stand across from the office door. Soon the bludger came, hitting the door and rebounding right next to Al's head. He cursed and Scorpius put his hand over his mouth. In a matter of seconds, Filch had the door wide open, looking around to find what was causing the racket. In his shock, he forgot to lock the door. It slowly started to close, and Scorpius and Al ran to get through it. They could hear Filch yelling at the bludger as the door closed.

They walked around to the back of the desk and tried the drawer. When it didn't open, Albus pointed his wand at it and whispered, "_Alohamora_."

When it opened they were giddy with excitement. They picked through candy, PlayWizard magazines, muggle contraceptive that Albus found fascinating, love letters from and to people they know, and several other things. As Scorpius was putting things into the bag, Albus stopped and looked at him.

"What is it?" Scorpius asked, noticing Al had stopped.

"I'm glad you're back to normal, mate. I missed you."

"Oh hush, I didn't go anywhere."

Albus squeezed him around the shoulders. "I love you so much!"

"Good old Potter. I hope you never change."


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER ;)**

**Chapter Six**

It'd been days since Scorpius had talked to Rose. Actually, it had been weeks. He was trying so hard not to care that he almost didn't. Almost, but not quite. Fall was coming to an end; most of the leaves had fallen off of the trees and the air was nippier than usual. Quidditch was taking up most of his time, since they wanted to get as much practice in before it started snowing. Either way, they would practice, but if they got extra hours in now then they could cut back when it was colder. Scorpius was very thankful for the extra long practices, for it relieved his anger and took his mind off of… other things. When he could, he refused to think her name. If he had to think of her, he'd refer to her as Al's cousin. Or Flint's girl. He tried to push any feeling for her out of him, but it wasn't easy.

He felt like the more he forgot about her, the more he lost a piece of himself. His hope, the part of him that believed anything could happen, was all but gone. He stopped believing that he could actually deserve a good, stable relationship. Over the weeks that he tried to forget, he messed around with girls. Several, in fact. Half of them, he'd just met the day they fooled around. He refused to talk to any of them after the fact. Quite a few times he'd had to make them leave when he saw a flash of blue eyes or red hair, or he heard her laughter in his mind. Once he made the girl leave, his eyes would water, he'd have to bully himself into not crying. It would be pathetic to cry. He had no reason to. It was just that he was so used to eventually getting what he wanted, that this whole thing was a bit of a shock to him. But he wasn't supposed to care. He tried his best not to.

Whenever he saw Marc Flint, he would turn and look the other way. Scorpius refused to acknowledge him in anyway, because then he'd have to admit that Rose was indeed Flint's, and not his. It was harder when he saw Rose. Sometimes it was easier. Usually Rose avoided him just like he avoided her, and it was simple; they just didn't talk to each other. Other times, she would try to catch his eye, or try to make their paths cross. Once, she had succeeded. It had been just the two of them, standing in Potions after class was over.

When he noticed they were alone, he couldn't breathe. His heart beat madly in his chest, and as a last resort he took off running. Part of him hoped she saw the pain he felt. Another part prayed that she had no clue what she did to him. Scorpius wanted her to feel guilty, but then again he didn't. He wanted her to share in his pain but knew she never would; he knew, even if she was upset with him for not talking to her, it wasn't that big of a loss to her. She didn't like him like he liked her. It was different. She'd be confused as to what his problem was, and then get over it. He wouldn't, or at least not for a while.

The only good that truly came from his attempted detachment from Rose was that he was more or less back to normal. At first he had been pretending, but soon it got effortless to break into the Professors' offices and steal whiskey and gin. It'd taken them a long time to figure out what teachers had legitimate muggle liquor, but once Scorpius found out they'd had a party. Literally. The night of the discovery, they had fixed up an abandoned class room, but all sorts of charms on it, and invited anyone who wanted to come. Scorpius couldn't remember the names of the people who he'd snogged if they had made a list of everyone in attendance. That had been the beginning of his promiscuity. If Rose could shag a guy she wasn't dating and knew nothing about in the woods, then he could get blowjobs from girls he barely knew in the Astronomy Tower.

"Malfoy, you ready?"

Scorpius had been staring intently at a spot on the wall, zoned out. He did that a lot lately; it was hard for him to think about something really hard and then continue to be conscious of things around him. Albus had to shake him for several seconds before he came to.

"_What_? Bloody hell, I thought I was in an earthquake for a second there."

"Funny. We've got practice in an hour, mate. Everyone's going down for breakfast before we head out. You want to come?"

Lately, Scorpius was actually eating his meals. See, he was better off without Rose. She made him sick in the head; she sucked the life out of him. _That isn't true._ A voice said in the back of his head, but he tried to ignore it. That bloody voice had been getting louder and louder lately. Bold little shit.

"Yeah, sure." He said, getting out of his bed."Do we have to dress, Captain?"

"I don't know, Captain. It's up to you."

"Tell the kids to dress." Scorpius said, walking in the bathroom to brush his teeth. He didn't know why you needed to brush your teeth in the morning when you were just going to eat something and get food in your mouth anyway. Besides, toothpaste made food taste funny. He always had to rinse out his mouth over and over, and then down a glass of pumpkin juice. When he was younger he'd asked his mum why people needed to brush their teeth in the morning. "It's healthy, darling." Healthy his ass. It was a hassle, that's what it was.

By the time he was out of the bathroom, Albus had already changed into his Quidditch uniform. Scorpius quickly changed, too. They walked down into the Common Room together, where the rest of the team was all waiting for him. Scorpius half glared at, half ignored Marc Flint as he walked towards the door. As soon as they had passed them, the others got up to follow Al and Scorpius. Alex and Lorcan pushed to the front and they each went on two different spiels about a girl they'd shagged last night, and about a new broom trick they'd learned. Scorpius listened to Lorcan, the more ridiculous of the two, talk about some French girl. "Everything from there is better, man. It all tastes better; the fries, the bread, the candies, the cheese, and the pussy. Above all else, the pussy."

"You are a ridiculous excuse for a man," was what he wanted to say. It sounded like something Rose would say, but only to him. Not to anyone else.

Scorpius just laughed, nodded, and agreed, although he had never done anything more than snog a French girl. He'd been to France several times with his parents, and it seemed the girls there loved his accent. "What accent?" he'd asked, when one first bought it up.

She'd giggled and turned to her friend. In French she had said, "So cute."

"Rose, baby, do you want to come watch us practice?"

Scorpius snapped out of his thoughts; he hadn't realized that he was already in the Great Hall and sitting down at the table. Merlin, if he kept zoning out like that he'd end up killing himself.

"I-uh sure." Her voice was too close to him. It wasn't long to realize why; she was sitting right across from him. He was close enough to see that there was a bruise across her cheek. He'd heard Al telling Alex about it, since Scorpius had demanded no one bring her up to him. "Silly girl tripped and hit her face on a pile of books. That sounds just like her-"

Seeing her now, up close, he didn't believe for a second that the bruise was from falling on some bloody books. Rose was a little goofy at times, but she wasn't that daft. No one conveniently fell just the right distance from a pile of books for them to hit their face. Besides, the surface area wasn't right. If she'd hit the books, for it to bruise she'd have had to hit it really hard and on a corner. Even then, the corner wouldn't have left but a long, pinky width bruise. This bruise was round. It just didn't add up.

Scorpius heard the clattering of silverware on china and averted his eyes; he hadn't realized he'd been staring at her. He began piling food in his plate and then eating it, hoping to get out of the Great Hall as quickly as possible. Once he was out on the pitch, he wouldn't have time to think about her, even if she was going to be in the audience.

"Let's go boys!" Albus exclaimed once everyone was done eating and more or less just chatting.

"We've got a long day ahead of us, so I hope you filled up. Practice today is five hours long. You'll get a few breaks, of course, but otherwise, it's work day." Scorpius said, putting his attention on the uniformed players and not Rose.

"This is our last year, and we want to win the Quidditch Cup again this year, and we will. We know it'll be tough on you guys, all this practice, and you may think it's pointless. But trust us, when you're out on the field and two blokes are speeding toward you with beaters' bats, or if a bludger is coming your way, you'll be glad you had the extra practice. Now enough chit-chat, let's get going."

There were general noises of approval, and a few comments along the lines of, "That might have been the golden couple's best speech yet."

Scorpius thought their nickname was funny, but Albus thought that everyone was teasing their authority. "They're jealous that we're making history as the two first co-captains of any Quidditch team ever."

"I doubt that, mate. They may just think we act like a couple."

"We do not!"

"Yes, we kinda do."

"Bloody hell, one of us needs to get a girl. And fast."

"Don't worry Al; I get enough girls for the both of us."

"I mean one to actually date. Then they have solid proof that neither of us is gay."

"No one really thinks we're gay, Al. You worry too much. If it helps you sleep at night, you can get a girlfriend. It wouldn't be too hard, with your devastating good looks."

Al gave him a look that would have made him shut up if he didn't know him so well. Instead, he just laughed and pat Albus on the back. "I'm serious."

"I'm sure you are."

They were out of the castle and across the grounds in no time, it seemed. Scorpius was sure that if he hadn't had Albus it would have been an excruciatingly long walk. Once inside of the pitch, they walked under the stands to the broom cupboard. Scorpius and Albus grabbed their brooms first; two with smooth, shiny wood. "Rose, go on up to the stands," Scorpius heard Al say, "You might want to Accio a book or something; it could get pretty boring.

Rose nodded and headed up the stairs. "Good idea." What was she supposed to do, watch them? Who would she watch? She had always liked watching Al and Scorpius flying around at the burrow during summer, but this was different. Then, she could admire Scorpius without feeling weird about it. She knew for sure that she didn't like him, and she probably never would, but she'd liked seeing the way his muscles worked, how his sweat was more like a light mist highlighting all of his features than sweat at all. She'd watched Marc before, too. He was good, he had to be to get on the team, but he didn't have the same gracefulness as Scorpius. Or maybe that's just how she saw it, because she knew that he didn't have a graceful bone in his body. He was all brute strength and anger. Scorpius was a whole medley of things, strength and anger included. Anger that was most likely directed at her.

She'd noticed that ever since the last time they'd fought, Scorpius was back to normal. And happier. At least that's how it seemed to her. He was almost always with a girl, but a different girl each day. Not that it mattered to her; it just irritated her a bit. She'd also noticed that he was back to being the sarcastic git who bought breaking the rules to a whole other level. Before, she had admired his free spirit. Now, she felt it'd be wrong to admire him. Her admiration had always been something you felt towards a super hero, or a celebrity, or someone who had saved you from getting beat up once. She didn't like him, but maybe admiring meant more than liking. It didn't matter, though. None of it mattered, because he hated her.

She missed their silly banter more than she missed her old self. Marc had drained everything out of her. She barely talked to Albus anymore, at least not about anything important. Al was always around Scorpius, and Marc didn't want her around Scorpius. She wished she could tell him the truth. Rose hadn't done anything to upset him, but when Marc suspected that something was up, he would hit her. The last time, she'd tried to reason to with him and it just made him madder. He usually hit her where it wasn't visible, but his rage had made him hit her in the face. Then he'd blamed her and raped her. Again. For the fourth time. Rose wished with all her heart that he'd get so mad that he'd kill her. It was a little dramatic, sure, but the thoughts going through her mind tortured her every minute of every day. Even when she was asleep.

Rose found a seat in stands and looked down at the pitch. Scorpius was on the ground, unlocking the chest that held the quaffle, two bludgers, and the snitch. Albus was the seeker, and Scorpius was a beater. Alex was the other beater, Lorcan was keeper, Marc was a chaser, and a couple of the younger girls were chasers. There were back up players in case someone got hurt, and they were also there but Rose didn't know their names. Scorpius glanced up at the stands, and when he saw her, he looked down again. It amazed her that he could make her so angry; she wasn't that kind of person. She usually just got sad, but never mad. Well, unless it was Lucy and Louis. They pissed her off.

Most of the players were up in the air, except for Scorpius and Marc. Scorpius was getting ready to kick off when Marc walked by him bumped his shoulder. Scorpius looked like he would explode, and then he gripped his bat with both hands and got ready to swing. Rose hope he got him dead in the face. It didn't happen though, because Al had flown down and said something to Scorpius. Al was the only one who could calm him down, it seemed. Scorpius usually didn't have such a short fuse, and because of that, Rose realized that despite all the girls he messed around with, he wasn't happy. Not even close. She just wasn't sure why not. It was a little relieving to know she wasn't alone in her misery, but she was sad that she couldn't talk to him about it. It was true, if she grew a pair and decided to force him to talk to her, they might be able to fix things. Maybe it was just wishful thinking that he didn't hate her completely.

Merlin, she thought about him a lot.


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER**

**Chapter Seven**

Hours went by, and practice was almost over. Rose had decided against summoning a book and just watched them. Well, she more or less just watched Scorpius. Marc had flown by her and told her to wait for him after they were done. Great. She would've waited for him anyway, but the fact that he mentioned it wasn't good. He wanted something, and that definitely wasn't good.

When he left she watched him for a few seconds and then turned her attention back to Scorpius. His face glistened, and his cheeks were red from the cold. She had never seen him with any kind of color in his face, and she felt that _admiration_ again. And again and again. When he yelled across the pitch to instruct someone, or to call a foul, she felt it. When he went through a play and let go of the broom to swing the bat with both hands, she felt it. When he and Al bumped fists, she felt it again. She was starting to think that if he was sitting down reading or asleep she'd have felt it then, too. She'd never get to know, though, since she'd never be around him again.

"One more play?" Al called, shaking his black hair from his eyes.

"One more play!" Scorpius called out, and everyone got in their positions. She could just imagine Marc's irritation at having to listen to what Scorpius said. Rose didn't really know why Marc hated Scorpius so much, but figured it had to be because of that fight they'd had a while ago. For all she knew, Scorpius and Marc had been on good terms before.

Albus blew a whistle after they'd run the play and everyone descended. Scorpius had caught the bludgers and was flying down to put them away. Albus had caught the snitch and was petting it before he put it away. One of the chasers had put up the quaffle. The girls on the team went to the locker rooms to shower, but the boys didn't bother. Typical. Everyone was off to put their brooms away except for Marc. He was down, waiting for her. Reluctantly, she hurried down to him. The longer they had to be alone, the worse. It was best to just get it over with.

"Hey," she started, but he stopped her from saying anything else.

"Come on." He said, grabbing onto her arm and pulling. She followed him as he headed to the broom closet. Everyone else was gone; she could see them walking across the grounds. Not good. Marc pulled her into the small room and closed the door behind them. It was dark, but a hole in the wood at the back let in some light. It was just enough light for her to see his fist coming towards her.

It shocked her, and her knees buckled. Her hands flew to her mouth and she felt something wet. When she licked her lips she tasted the blood. Well that wouldn't be very cute, would it? "I fucking told you not to look at him."

"Look at whom?" she said, trying hard not to sob.

"_Look at wh-"_ he paused, kicking her hard in the side. "Get _up_."

There was a sharp pain in her side, so bad that she cried out. She shook her head, but he threatened to kick her again so she got up. He pulled her towards him and pulled up her skirt. Marc made her wear them; she still couldn't stand for so much skin to be showing. Rose tried to get away from him, tried to get to the door, but her blocked her way.

"Stop trying to run away. You're just making things worse for yourself."

"You don't have to do this Marc. I'm sure there's some dim girl who would shag you willingly."

Marc laughed cruelly, "Sure. But that isn't nearly enough fun."

He pulled her close and lifted her skirt again. She could feel herself crying as he fumbled with her panties, trying to get them off. He kissed her hard, biting down on her bleeding lip. She pushed him away and he slapped her. "_Stop_ that."

All of the sudden there was light behind her; the door had opened. Marc was so shocked that it was easy for her to get away from him. She stumbled and someone dropped something and caught her. She looked up, and when she saw who it was she started to cry harder. "Please don't let him get me, please." She begged, wrapping her arms around his neck. He smelled honey soap.

"Watch out, Rose." Rose unwrapped her hands from around him, and saw the fury in his eyes. She'd never seen him so mad. Not even at her. "You worthless piece of shit." Scorpius picked up his broom, put it inside the room, and closed in on Marc. Rose didn't see it, but she heard a loud crack. She peeked inside, shaking, and saw Marc on the ground. Marc's nose was gushing blood, and Scorpius's hands were wrapped around his neck. He was going to kill him. Not that she really cared if Marc died, she just didn't want Scorpius getting in trouble.

"Stop." She said softly, because it was all she was capable of. "You'll kill him."

"If he does, it's nothing short of what he deserves." Scorpius voice was more of a growl than anything else.

"Scorpius, please."

He looked back at her, then released Marc's neck. After gasping for air he hissed, "I'm not done with you, bitch."

Scorpius stood up and kicked him in the side. "Shut the fuck up."

He walked out of the room and put his hand on Rose's shoulder. "You should have told me." He said, his voice low.

"I couldn't."

"Rose…"

"Behind you!"

Marc had raised his wand and was pointing it at Scorpius.

"_Avada_-"

"_Petrificus totalus_."

Rose sobbed as Marc fell to the ground, not because he was petrified, but because she'd been so close to being alone with him again. With no one to save her this time. She sat on the ground, her head in her hands and cried. Scorpius kneeled down next to her and put his arms around her. "Shh, it's okay."

"He-he almost killed you. If you died he would have tortured me."

"I'm hard to get rid of."

They were quiet for a while. What were you supposed to say after what had just happened?

"Are you okay to walk?"

She nodded, and he let go of her. She made to get to her feet, but the same pain from before forced her back to the ground.

"What is it?" he asked.

"M-my side." She said.

"Let me see." He got down to her level again and looked over his shoulder to make sure that Marc was still unconscious. He knew that he would be for hours unless someone revived him, but he wanted to be sure.

"No."

"Rose, I'm not going to hurt you."

She kept shaking her head, tears falling from her eyes.

"Please, Rose. I would never hurt you. I never will. I promise."

She looked down at her hands, and nodded slowly. For some reason she believed him.

"Which side is it?"

She pointed to her right side, and he made her lift her arm while he looked. He peeled up her shirt until it was just under her bra, and ran his hand over her side. His hands were cold, so it felt good. But still, she whimpered.

"I'm sorry." He said softly, looking down at the side, now. A part of her rib was pressing against her skin and there was a large, dark bruise that seemed to go deep down in her skin.

"It hurts." She said as he pressed softly to feel for her other ribs. It wasn't hard; they were right under the skin.

"I know, I'm sorry. It's your ribs; one of them is broken but the rest seem fine."

"Oh, god." She sobbed, and reached for him. He put her shirt back over her skin, not before he'd seen the creamy skin on her back. There were some old bruises here and there, probably from Marc. It made him sick that he hadn't figured it out before. How damaged was Rose?

"You need to go to the hospital wing. I'll go and tell McGonagall-"

"No!" she cried, "No, please don't tell anyone. Please. He'll kill me when he wakes up, I know he will."

"Rose, he doesn't control you anymore. He can't hurt you, I won't let him."

"He's my boyfriend, he can find away to get me alone…"

"Do you want to stay with him?"

"Of course not, I've been trying to find a way to get free of him for weeks, but-"

"Then you're not going out with him anymore. Simple as that."

_Simple as that._ It seemed too simple, to just not want to be with him anymore so she wasn't. Before, she hadn't had anyone who knew the truth, but now she did. Still, she didn't' feel safe.

"He'll hurt you. Then he'll find me. It's not fair to you that you have to be my body guard just because you're the one that found out."

"Sometimes I wonder how you got into Ravenclaw at all, Rose."

Sometimes she wondered the same thing. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He sighed, "But we have to tell someone."

"Please, please don't." she begged, starting to cry harder. "Please. I'll deny it, I won't let you."

"We'll talk about it later, Rose." He said, making to kiss her on the cheek, but realizing that it would be very inappropriate and unnecessary. "Do you want me to carry you?"

"Y-yes. I'm so sorry, I wouldn't make you if I wasn't in so much pain. I'm afraid I'm going to-" and with that she blacked out. If she hadn't been crying already, Scorpius would have realized that she was crying from the pain being so bad. If she hadn't been so upset, Rose might have known herself.

"Fuck." He hissed, picking her head off of the ground. "Rose, Rose answer me." Under different circumstances, he would tease her for being a girl with low blood pressure who fainted easily. It'd take a lot more than a rib to make him pass out, but then again he weighed almost twice as much as her.

After a while, he realized she wasn't going to come to and picked her up, minding her side. He closed the door to the broom closet, so hopefully no one would find Marc for a long time. If they were lucky, He'd freeze to death at night. As he walked out and onto the grounds, he tried to make sense of what had happened in his head. He'd told Albus that he'd meet up with him later and went to take a shower; he didn't like marinating in his sweat for too long. He hadn't wanted to put his uniform back on, but since he had nothing else, he'd had to. He cleaned it a bit with a spell him mum had taught him, and then he'd went to put his broom away. He almost didn't bother putting it away. Good thing he had. When he opened the door, he'd been disgusted at first. He thought they were just shagging, but when he saw Rose was crying, that her lip was bleeding, and that Marc looked pissed, he put everything together. He and Rose could talk about their own issues with each other later; for now he just wanted to help her.

He looked down at her in his arms, her head resting against his chest. He stopped for a moment and looked at her. His stomach twisted from being so close to her, and he couldn't help himself. He bent his head down and pressed his lips to her forehead. Did that make him a creep, since she was unconscious? He hoped not.

His heart ached at the thought of them staying how they were forever; her confused and damaged, and him pining and pathetic for all eternity. He doubted that she could every trust someone again after what had happened. Had it just been this once, or had it happened before? He was almost positive that, when he'd found her in the woods, Marc had raped her then as well. He wanted to kiss her, and hold her, and tell her that everything would be okay. To tell her that he would take care of her forever and never let anything or anyone hurt her again. Unfortunately, someday she'd fall in love. And when she did, it wouldn't be with him.

"Mm." she said, keeping her eyes shut. "Where am I?" Her voice was no more than a whimper.

"You're with me, you're fine."

"Don't let him hurt me, please. Please don't let him hit me."

Scorpius felt a pang in his heart. "I won't Rose."

"Are you an angel?"

He laughed and looked down at her, her face was ghostly white. She was so out of it. "Sort of."

"Don't leave me." She pleaded, new tears falling from her closed eyes. "Please don't ever leave."

She didn't mean it. He had to repeat that to himself all the way to the castle, through the halls, past the confused faces of their peers. She didn't mean a word that she'd said. "I won't, I promise. I'll always be here for you."

**A/N: I thought about saying THE END at the end of this chapter just to screw with you guys, but I decided to be nice. Haha. Review :) **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Not that anyone cares, but I'd just like to say that Cintia Dicker is my Rose, Boyd Holbrook is my Scorpius, and Tom Sturridge is my Al. If you don't know who they are, LOOK THEM UP. On google. Tell me if you agree or disagree. :)**

**DISCLAIMER**

**Chapter Eight**

"How long has she been like this?"

"I think it just happened when I found her."

Albus was sitting down next to Rose's bed in the hospital wing. Scorpius was standing at the foot of the bed, looking anywhere but Al and Rose.

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure she'd want me to tell you, mate. We talked about it before she fell out and she was really forward in how she felt about-"

"She's my cousin, Malfoy." Al said, "And you're my best friend. If it was you, I'd want to know what happened."

"I get that, Potter, but you don't get how badly she didn't want me to tell anyone. Once she's up I'll try to talk some sense into her, but until then you'll just have to wait."

"Fine." Scorpius could tell that Albus was a little mad at him but he really didn't care. The only person he cared about at the time was Rose.

"I'll go and get her some water for when she wakes up. You want some?"

Albus told him that he did, and Scorpius left. He looked in the mediwitch's office for cups, and once he found them, he pulled his wand out of his pocket. "_Aquamente_."he filled both of the cups, pocketed his wand, and went back into the infirmary. The cups were in both of his hands so he had to turn the knob with his elbow and push it with his hip.

"Where is he? Where did he go?"

"Where did who go, Rose?"

Scorpius slowed down, not sure if he wanted to talk to her right now. He'd been content with watching her as she slept, and running his hands over her forehead and smoothing down her hair. When she was awake, he couldn't let his face show his feelings.

"He told me he would never leave me," she said. Scorpius turned the corner, and Albus looked up him.

"She's up." Al said, taking a cup from him.

"I noticed." He walked around to the other side of the bed. "I bought you some water, kid. You should drink it."

"I'm not thirsty." She said, looking away from him. Now that she was more composed than she had been, she was able to feel ashamed of being caught in such a weak position. It was such a typical scenario; her needing to be saved and the kind-hearted, brooding boy had to save her. It made her feel pathetic.

"You need to drink something."

"I said I'm not bloody thirsty!" Al jumped when she yelled, and she immediately felt bad.

"Drink it." Something in his voice, something she couldn't put her finger on made her reach for the cup in his hand and drink. "Let me see your side." He said, once she'd put her half empty cup on the side table. Rose knew there was no fighting with him, so she moved onto her left side and moved her arm out of the way. She closed her eyes when she felt him pull up the side of her shirt and put his cold hands on her skin. Again, she noticed how good it felt for him to touch her.

"See Al?" she heard him ask. "It was worse than this, they were sticking this far." His hands left her body as he indicated where the bones had been. "The potion's helped a lot."

"I'm glad you're getting better, Rosie." Al leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Scorpius had no siblings, and he wasn't close to his cousins. Seeing Al kiss Rose made him yearn for affection that wasn't always sexual. What was it like to kiss someone just because you were glad they were okay? He'd felt a little of that earlier, when he'd kissed her forehead. It was different though, because no one but his parents had ever done that to him, and that was when he was younger.

"I'm going to grab something from the kitchens. You two want anything?"

Scorpius liked that he and Rose were associated together. _You two._ He always made little things out to be a lot more than they were.

"Sure, just grab me something." He looked at Rose and said, "Do you want to eat?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No, not really."

"I'll have something too, then."

Al left then, and Scorpius sat in the chair he'd been in. Rose avoided looking at him. "Are you mad at me?" he asked.

She squinted her eyes, but didn't look at him. "Why would I be mad at you?"

"I told Al that you were in here."

"Malfoy, he's your best friend and my cousin. It's nothing short of what I'd expected. At least you didn't tell him what happened." She looked at him now, fresh tears glistened in her eyes. "You're different."

"Well thank you."

"Not in a bad way. You just… I'd expected you to tell someone right away. You actually listened to me. No one else would have done that."

"Well," he started, "I didn't want you to be mad at me before we've even worked things out officially."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Neither do I, but it feels weird, Rose. I haven't talked to you in a month, and then this happened and now we're cool. We can't pretend we never fought, we have to clear things up."

"There you go acting like we're dating again." She didn't say it meanly, but it still hurt his feelings.

"I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's fine. We can talk later, I suppose. We can walk around the grounds or something. Once they let me out of here we can."

"Is everything alright in here?" a voice said. They looked over and Rose's stomach dropped. She started shaking and searched desperately for Scorpius's arm. When the person revealed themselves, she saw it was only an assistant. "Merlin, are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine. You just frightened me."

Scorpius looked at her and saw the fear in her eyes. "She'll be fine, mate. Bring her that potion, yeah? We don't want you lot messing her up even more. It'd be best to get her out of here quick like. The madam said she'd be all healed before the day's out she has to stay here over night. I want her out of here in the morning, and if she's not all better , I'll blame you. Got it?"

The mediwizard scowled and mumbled something about, '_Those bloody Malfoys'_ before walking away to fetch the potion. Once he was gone, Scorpius caressed her hand with his. "What is it?"

"I-I thought he was Marc, I thought he'd come to get me."

Merlin. The next time Scorpius saw the prick he was going to kill him. Screw going to Azkaban, he'd kill him with his bare hands. "He's unconscious right now, Rose. You're safe."

"He won't be forever, Malfoy."

_He will if I kill him. _"What are you worried about? Tomorrow?"

She nodded. "If you let me tell Al, he can wait for you outside your common room every morning and walk you to all your classes."

"I don't want to tell Al. And even if I did, I doubt he'd want to do that for me. It's too big of a hassle."

_I'd do it for you. It's no hassle._

"Really?" Rose's eyes lit up and Scorpius's grew wide. Blast, had he said that out loud?

"If you want me to."

"It's too much to ask. I mean, I'm sure you have a lot of better things to do than babysit me."

"Will you stop that, Rose?" he snapped. He couldn't help it. "I'm your friend, and I will be for as long as you want me to be. You act like we barely know each other when we've spent most of the summer together for the past seven six years. I see you every day and I talk to you _every day_. We aren't bloody acquaintances, we aren't _strangers. _Evidently you're trying to had to dissociate yourself from me and I have no clue as to why."

"Well I'm sorry if it seems like you don't like me sometimes, Malfoy. Like _now."_

"And then there's that. You never call me by my name. _Never._"

"Malfoy _is_ your name."

"You know what I mean, Rose. You only call people by their last name _all_ the time if you don't like them."

"I'm afraid to call you your name."

"_Why?_"

"I don't know, it seems to intimate. I'm so used to calling you Malfoy, that it'd be like crossing some forbidden border into your life if I call you your name."

"That's bloody ridiculous."

"Maybe it is. Please don't yell at me again."

He took a deep breath, and then let it out slowly. "I'm sorry. You just get me all riled up."

"Whoa there, tiger."

Scorpius turned and glared at Albus, who was turning into their small, curtained area. "That's not what I meant. Eavesdropping is very unattractive, mate."

"Who cares? You're attractive enough for the both of us, right?" Scorpius shoved him and Al laughed.

"Jam doughnuts and treacle tarts for the lady." He said, handing them over to Rose in a small white paper bag. "Chicken and ham sandwiches for us lads."

"If you're trying to make me fat Al, it's not going to work."

"Drat. Why must you foil all of my master plans, Rose?"

"I can't help it."

It was silent while they ate, for they all had a million things running through their minds. Albus was wondering if he'd ever find out what had happened to his darling cousin, Scorpius was wondering if Al had heard him yelling at Rose, and Rose was wondering why she made Scorpius so mad. "Lively bunch, you two." Rose murmured, biting into her tart.

"We were thinking." They said in unison, and Rose was tempted to get up and walk out of the room.

"You should go to your dorms. You can't stay here all night."

Scorpius shook his head. "No, I'll stay a while longer. Unless you want me to leave."

Rose thought about telling him that she did, in fact, want him to leave just so she could be alone. She didn't want him gone though; she felt safer with him around. Eventually, Al left. Rose and Scorpius were alone again, and it didn't seem like that'd change soon.

"So."

"_What_?"

"I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"I know."

"Do you?"

"You're always sorry, Malfoy. It's like you're apologizing to me for anything bad you've ever done in your life. "

He thought about that; it was more or less true. "I take back what I said earlier; there's a good reason you got put in Ravenclaw."

She didn't say anything, and for a while neither did he.

"Who do you think's fit?"

"_What?_ Why?"

"It's a perfectly simple question, Weasley."

"No one."

"No one?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I just don't believe it."

Rose glared at him and sat up in her bed. She winced and he frowned. "Fine, tell me who you think it cute."

"I don't think anyone's cute."

"Come on, you can tell me. It doesn't mean you like them just because you think they're cute."

"No one."

He could see this wasn't going to be easy. Scorpius wasn't sure why he wanted to know so bad, but that's how it was when you liked someone, right? The timing wasn't all that good, but she was relatively calm and he wouldn't have the guts to ask her later. "Fine, we'll do it your way then."

Scorpius got up, and for a second she thought he was about to leave, but then he sat on the bed, legs crossed and facing her. "What color hair do you like?"

"Merlin, what kind of question is that?"

"Answer it."

"I like all hair." She said, then she thought of him in the sun at the Burrow. "I favor light hair, though."

"Light hair?"

"Yeah. What about you."

"I'm partial to red heads."

"You're full of shit."

"I'm serious." He said, smiling. "Oh, damn, I forgot you had red hair. I don't think I like them so much anymore."

She smacked him on the arm, and he grinned wider. Rose hadn't realized how much she missed him smiling. "I like what I can't have. Or at least, what I think I can't have. There are some people that I consider unattainable so I just never think of them in that way. If I liked one of those guys I'd just end up pining after them for the rest of my life and them never seeing me as more than a friend." She paused, and noticed that he was hanging off her every word. "I like the boys I'm not supposed to like. The dangerous ones, the ones that are off limits. My parents a bit more accepting lately, but my dad would have had a fit if he knew I'd dated a Slytherin. Marc… he wasn't nice, though. And I like my boys nice, and thoughtful. One that doesn't kiss my ass and who isn't mean to me. I'm a bit picky, I suppose. That's probably why I never date anyone."

Scorpius had a feeling that he knew that guy she was describing. She couldn't say all of that stuff and not have someone in mind. If not, she had put a lot of thought into her perfect bloke.

"It's your turn."

"What?" he asked. He'd been hoping to avoid this part.

"You know. Quid pro quo."

He sighed, "What do you want to know?"

"What would your perfect girl be like?"

"Well she has to be smart. None of that feigning ignorance bull shit. I've… well they just bore me. They can't keep up a conversation so they flash whatever they've got at me until I can't form a complete sentence." He looked up at her for a second, not sure if he should keep going.

"What else?" she asked, sitting up straighter. The potion had almost fully healed her, all that was left was the bruise and a little tenderness when she moved.

"She should be sweet, but feisty. She has to able to put up with my shit and not ignore me when I've got stuff to say. She can't be all prissy and stuck up, that would annoy the shit out of me. I like pretty girls, with long hair and freckles…" he noticed her touching her fingers to her cheek, were tons of freckles were. Their eyes met, for just a second and he added in a soft voice, "and blue eyes."

"You just described me and half of my family. At least with the physical part."

He smiled, and on a whim brushed a strand of her hair out of her face. "That I did."

Something should have clicked in her head, but it didn't. She was the only one who had blue eyes.

"Malfoy?"

"Hmm?"

"What if Marc wakes up and he comes in here tonight. No one'll be here… I'm scared."

"He won't come in here, Rose."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I'll stay with you."

"No, I can't ask you to do that-"

"You didn't ask, I offered." He said. "You should know by now that once I've got my mind sent on something you can't change my mind."

"That's because you're so damn headstrong."

"You like it."

She didn't say anything, because she wasn't sure if she did or not. "You better get some sleep. If I wake up in the middle of the night and you're still up, I'll kill you."

"Don't worry about me." He said, climbing off of the bed and back into the chair. All of the sudden she felt disoriented. She'd gotten used to him being so close, and now she didn't know what to do, or say. "Just go to sleep. We'll get up, eat breakfast, and figure things out from there. Alright?"

She nodded and lay down, facing him. Her eyes were closed, and just as he thought she was asleep, she spoke. "Malfoy?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do we fight so much?"

"It's because we're perfect for each other, obviously."

She laughed, and then once it was quiet he knew she was asleep. He reached over and touched her hand. He was about to pull away when her fingers laced through his and she pulled their hands close to her.

"Damn it, Rose. Why can't you like me this much when you're conscious?"


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER**

**Chapter Nine**

The next morning, there was no sign of Marc anywhere. Later in the day, Scorpius and Rose had found out that he'd been come to early that morning and limped up to the Headmistress's office. He'd demanded that he be sent home immediately, and although they didn't know exactly what he'd told the staff, they knew that he'd been gone before the rest of the school had waken up.

"He's gone for a few months." Alex had said at lunch. "He's going to Durmstrang in the meantime but coming back for sure. Everyone was asking Rose about it, since she'd been her girlfriend they figured she'd know what was up with him.

"We aren't going out anymore." She would tell them, and then they would look at Scorpius, who she'd been attached to all day. When they asked her who broke up with whom, and she told them she'd broken it off their suspicions only grew. Scorpius could only wish that their misconceptions about the two of them were true.

"You should tell McGonagall." He said as they were walking.

"No. I already know what she would say. 'Mr. Flint is going through a hard time right now Miss Weasley. Those are very serious accusations, and as far as I know you two had been _involved_. If you are trying to destroy his life simply because he broke things off with you, then I am appalled. Either way, we will have to wait until he returns to school before we can act on your accusations.' Telling her won't help anything."

"Rose, we can't just let him get away with what he's done to you."

She stood on her tip toes and put her thumb and index finger on either sides of his face. "Don't worry about me so much. It'll make you sick." Even though she was smiling, he could see her eyes watering.

"Oh, Rose." He said, "Come here, don't cry." He stuck out his arms and she let herself rest on him as he wrapped his arms around her. He wanted to say something, anything what would actually be meaningful. He couldn't. Well, at least nothing he'd say out loud.

"I'm fine. It's just that you're so pretty, I feel intimidated standing next to you."

He didn't believe her, not for a moment, but he didn't say anything. He just smiled and hoped she didn't notice how long he was holding on to her. He let go finally and stuck his tongue out at her. "If anything, we both make each other look better. Me with my devastating handsome face and sexy body, and you looking all exotic with your big lips, freckles, and red hair are a force to be reckoned with. People are probably intimidated when they pass us in the hall together."

"You're so full of shit." She said, looking at her feet but smiling at the same time.

"I mean it. You're gorgeous, Rose. Don't let anyone tell you any different." He regretted saying as soon as it came out. "Let's go check up on Al. Without one of us with him at all times he might set the school on fire."

She laughed and agreed it was a good idea they check up on him. Rose felt really bad, since she was hogging Scorpius all of the time now. He was Al's best friend, and Al needed his best friend like Rose would need hers if she had one.

"Oh, no." she said all of the sudden. She attempted to pull Scorpius in another direction but it was too late.

"What do we have here?" a voice called from down the hall.

"What is it?" Scorpius asked her.

"My bloody cousins. Lucy and Louis, you know them. They're right dreadful and-"

"Rose I didn't know you were acquainted with Scorpius Malfoy." Lucy said, giving him the once over.

"I've known him since we were in our first year, Goosey."

Lucy scowled at the nickname, then turned her attention back on Scorpius. Louis was as well.

"I thought you were dating that one boy, Rose." Louis said, raising an eyebrow.

"We broke up."

"You scared him off, that's what happened." Lucy said, cutting in.

Scorpius looked down at Rose and saw that she looked miserable. He wished he was cleverer and could think of a way to make her feel better.

Lucy walked closer to them and tugged on Scorpius's arm like a lost child. "What are you doing right now, Scor?" then she added in a low voice, but Rose still heard her, "Hopefully you'll say me."

Rose hadn't looked at Scorpius, but if she had, she'd have seen the evident distaste on his face. For all she knew, he wanted her cousin. "Actually, Rose and I are going to hang out with Albus for a little while." He was just being nice to her, she realized that. She'd just been in the Hospital wing, and he didn't want to upset her any more than she already was. Otherwise he wouldn't have thought twice about running off with Lucy.

Lucy scowled; she didn't like Al any more than she like Rose, but she was a lot nicer to him since he was her ticket to all the Slytherin boys she wanted. "When you're done, then?"

"It'll be all night. Maybe another time, though." Rose admired his will power. Everything he'd said the other night made sense now. Why did she care, then? It was just because he liked Lucy. If it was Lily, she'd have encouraged him.

They talked for a couple more minutes, and then they were able to part ways. Rose felt an unfamiliar feeling in her throat as they walked away. "Is it Lucy?"

Scorpius furrowed his eyebrows together. "Is what Lucy?"

"Last night you were describing your perfect girl. Is it Lucy?"

"Merlin, Rose, of course not."

"Are you sure? She sure seemed pretty friendly with you."

"Rose, I see her every summer. I never talk to her except for once or twice, but she knows who I am. She was only acting like that to mess with you. She thinks you like me. I don't like her, no way. Didn't you hear me say I don't like prissy girls? If Lucy isn't the Queen of Priss then I don't know what she is."

"Oh."

After a few long, awkward moments, he cleared his throat. "Were you jealous?"

"_What_?"

"I said, were you jealous because you thought I liked Lucy."

"_No._ That may be the most ridiculous thing that you have ever assumed, Malfoy."

She didn't know how easily she could hurt his feelings. "I see."

She looked up at him, "Did you want me to be jealous?"

"Can we stop it with the bloody questions, Rose? I don't care, how many times do I have to tell you that I don't care?" In reality, he hadn't told her very many times. He'd repeated it in his head so many times, though, that it seemed that he had to have said it to her a few times.

"You don't care."

"No."

"I know that isn't true."

"I don't fucking care, okay?"

"Don't say that."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not true. Even if you don't care about me in a special way, you still feel like a brother towards me. You care."

Oh.

_Oh._

So that's how she saw him, as a bloody brother. She thought he saw her as a sister. Well damn. "You just… you don't get anything." He said, rubbing his eyes. They were in front of her common room, now. "I'll see you around."

"I thought we were going to hang out with Al." she said, confused.

"I-I have to talk to him about something." He said, starting to walk away from her. "We can all hang out another time."

"Malfoy, it's still early. I-I don't want to be alone."

"Go in there, then." He said, pointing to the portrait door. She looked over her shoulder as she knocked the gold knocker and waited for the door to ask her a question. "What came first, the phoenix or the flame?"

"I'd have to say… that a circle has no beginning."

"Well answered." The door swung open but Rose didn't walk in right away.

"Go on." He said, making a shooing motion.

"Scorpius, I…" she started, but then she shook her head. "Night Malfoy."

"Night."

She looked back one more time before she walked inside. As the door closed, the portrait looked at him and narrowed her eyes. "You, I fear, have something hidden inside of you. So does she."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play stupid. I have seen enough, and have been around long enough to read people's faces. You desire her, not just physically, but her heart."

"Keep your bloody voice down, will you?"

"Ah, your father was just the same."

"I am not my father."

The woman rolled her eyes. "That girl, she has pain inside of her. It's the pain that can only come from genuine cruelty. But you, you lighten her up a bit. You make her smile when she is with you."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, your love is not unrequited, you bloody fool. She just doesn't know it yet."

Scorpius gaped at the picture, and then after a while he laughed. "Rubbish. You're a barmy one, you." He pointed his finger at her as he walked away. "You almost had me for a second there, but not quite. And I don't love her."

The woman scoffed. "Men. It doesn't matter what century it is, they are always just as daft as the ones who came before them."

"I'm sorry I haven't hung out with you all day, mate."

"It's alright. I'm glad you're taking care of her."

Scorpius nodded and stared intently at the fire. "She's afraid, Al. She doesn't want to be anywhere alone."

"Why can't you explain what happened, mate? What's so bad about it?"

Scorpius shook his head. "She'd be pissed at me. I'll let her tell you herself, when she's ready to."

Al sighed and decided to drop the subject of what had happened. "Where is she now?"

"In her dorm." He said, looking at his feet. "She wanted to come but I told her I had to talk to you about something."

Al glared at him, and then pointed to the door. "Go get her."

"No. No way."

"_Go get her_."

"_I said no._"

They glared at each other for several seconds, but then they grew bored of being a little irritated with each other. "What happened?' Al asked.

Scorpius explained about the previous night when they'd talked about their perfect mate, and then he told him about their run in with Lucy and Rose's questions about it. "She pissed me off."Scorpius said. "And I didn't want to fight with her again."

"So you'd rather ditch her and let her think that you hate being around her than yell at her a bit?"

"Yes. And I didn't ditch her."

"I doubt she feels the same way."

Scorpius stared at his hands for a while then said, "We are not going to go get her. If you do, I'll go up the room and go to sleep."

"You're a pussy."

"And you're a faggot. But Al, I'm serious."

"I know." He said, "I just wish she'd have come."

Scorpius immediately felt bad; he had a bad habit of putting his own well being before others'. This time, he'd been more worried about being angry than he was about letting Rose see her cousin. It definitely wasn't her place to tell her when she could and couldn't see Al.

"If you want me to get her, I will."

"Do _you_ want to get her?"

_Yes._ "No. I'll see her in the morning."

"I'll just owl her, then. It's no big deal."

Scorpius looked around, and noticed the common room was almost empty. "I'm going up to bed. You coming?"

"Yeah." Al said, and they both got out of their seats and headed up the stairs. "A lot of the guys asked me if you and Rose are dating."

"Really."

"Yeah."

"What'd you say to them?"

"I told them no, of course."

"Well good."

"You don't seem so happy about it." Al commented.

"I don't see how I could be happy about the world being reassured that a Malfoy and a Weasley aren't dating. It makes me more and more upset the more I have to deny the rumors."

"You wish it were true."

"Well no shit, Captain Obvious."


	10. Chapter 10

**AN:** *awkward laugh* Uh, hi guys. Totally forgot about this story until, well, today. I re-read it and fell back in love with the story. So I'm going to continue it, and hopefully (at least) give you another nine or so chapters before I disappear again!

**Chapter Ten**

Scorpius couldn't help it. He had tried to sleep, but being away from her drove him mad with worry. He climbed out of bed and poked Al in the side. All he did was mumble and turn over, so Scorpius felt it was safe for him to leave. He darted out of the Dungeons, and made his way up to the Ravenclaw Common room. When he faced the portrait, he swallowed his pride and cleared his throat. The woman in the portrait opened her eyes and smirked when she saw him. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Casanova himself."

"Can you just let me in?" he demanded, "Before I lose my damn nerve."

"Watch that temper, Malfoy." She said, chuckling. "If you answer my riddle, then you may pass."

"Alright, fine, give it to me." He said, becoming more and more antsy by the minute. He expected that the portrait would give him the same riddle that Rose had been given.

"Say my name, and I am gone."

"_What_?"

"I do not repeat riddles to Slytherins."

Scorpius was tempted to punch the portrait but decided that wouldn't solve anything. He paced back and forth past the portrait, naming dozens of objects, people, etc.

"She's probably already sleep, Mr. Malfoy. You'll just have to hope she speaks with you tomorrow."

"_Silence!_" he hissed, and the door opened. For a moment he was stunned, but then he felt overwhelmed with relief and crossed the threshold into Ravenclaw. It was very blue in there. The fireplace was low, and threw funny shapes against the opposite wall. Sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace was Rose.

Scorpius walked over and kneeled beside her. Her face was wet with tears, he saw, but she was asleep. He brought up a shaking hand to brush the tears away. The poor girl was afraid, lost, confused, and he had just left her. She probably cried herself to sleep each and every night. He whispered her name softly, praying that she would wake up. He just wanted to be sure that she was okay, and then he would carry her up to her bed.

Rose stayed asleep, so after a while he made to stand up. He froze when he felt a hand on his arm. He looked down to see Rose staring up at him. Her eyes reflected the flickering fireplace, glassy from crying so much. "Scorpius," she said, tugging him down towards her.

"Yes?"

"How did you get in here?" she asked, starting to sit up. He kneeled between her legs when she spun around and she held his neck tenderly in her hands. He closed his eyes when she began stroking the nape of his neck.

"I answered the riddle."

She looked at him and then sighed. She pulled her hands away from him and wrapped her knees close to her chest. "Why did you come, Malfoy?"

"I wanted to be sure that you were alright."

"I thought you didn't care."

"I had an epiphany."

"Oh? And what did you learn from that _epiphany_?"

"That I can't be without you for even one moment." He whispered, and she gaped at him. "That I can't sleep without knowing you're happy, at peace."

"Malfoy, don't…"

"Rosie," he said, moving and getting onto the couch with her. She tried to turn her head away but she grabbed her face with his hand and turned it towards him. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sick of you getting mad at me for no reason, Malfoy. Do you know how hurt I was when you just left me in here? I was terrified to be alone and…" she looked down, tried not to start crying again.

He touched her arm, but she shrunk away. "For a moment, I thought I was in a dream." She said, closing her eyes, "because it doesn't make sense to me as to why you would come here."

"I just told you why!"

"Yes, but my sense of logic doesn't allow me to believe a word you're saying."

"Really, Rose?" he exclaimed, and she shushed him.

"I think you should go."

"Rose, I…"

"Malfoy, please, just leave."

"I'm not leaving."

Rose began shoving him then, trying to make him fall off the couch. He held his ground, though and she eventually gave up. He scooted in closer to her and held her face between his thumb and index finger. He leaned in, and when she didn't shrink away, he kissed her on the cheek. It was the first time that he had kissed her while she was actually conscious, and it made his heart flutter.

"I just wanted to see that you were okay." He said, moving away from her.

Rose turned toward him and pressed her hand against her cheek. "I'll be fine."

"I could stay with you." He said. As soon as it had come out of his mouth, he regretted it. Oh well, no turning back. "I'll leave before anyone gets up."

She just stared at him, incredulous, and shook her head. "You- you would get caught."

"I won't, I swear." He said.

She looked at him a while more, then gave in. "I… just, we're sleeping in here."

Scorpius's stomach tied in to knots, and he jumped to his feet. "Fine with me."

Rose pulled a blue throw blanket over herself, and then handed the silver one to Scorpius. She also took a pillow from the couch and handed it to him. Scorpius got to his knees and put down the pillow, then he shook out the blanket. "You can sleep on that chair, you know." She whispered, watching him carefully.

"I know." He said, laying down but propping up his head so he could look at her.

"I can't believe you're in here right now."

Scorpius said nothing, only reached out for her hand. She carefully placed the tips of her fingers onto his palm. He ran his thumb over the back of her hand ever so gently, making her shiver. They stayed like that until Scorpius began to doze off. "Scorpius?" she asked, looking at their hands.

He murmured, and she lowered his hand to the floor. "I'm glad you came." She said softly.


End file.
